Major Michael Mori today addressed the quarterly standing committee of attorneys general in Fremantle.
They say they're shaken by the information they've received at the briefing.
New South Wales Attorney-General Bob Debus says the fundamental principles of law are being ignored or overlooked in the Hicks case.
He says all the attorneys have signed the Fremantle Declaration which upholds the right for a fair trial, the prohibition of detention without trial, the prohibition of torture, and the prohibition of the death penalty.
Mr Ruddock was not expected to be present during Major Mori's appearance because it would be "inappropriate", his office said.
The federal attorney-general declined an invitation to attend as the issue was no business of his state counterparts, his spokesman said.
"The fact is ... the whole matter of David Hicks is a matter between the commonwealth and the United States," he said.
Adelaide-born Hicks has been held in the US detention centre at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba for almost five years but has yet to go to trial.
Earlier protestors with banners gathered outside the Fremantle venue heckled Mr Ruddock calling for the release of Hicks.
Howard wants US trial
But Prime Minister John Howard says he does not support terror suspect David Hicks being brought back to Australia until he has faced a trial in the US.
He said the Australian government was asking US authorities to speed up the legal process.
Mr Howard said the allegations against Hicks were that he "resumed his activities" with al-Qaeda after the September 11 attacks in the full knowledge of what the organisation had done.
"I am not happy about the time that is being taken but people should understand that if he is brought back to Australia he can't be tried for these offences because they were not offences under Australian law at the time they are alleged to have taken place," Mr Howard told Southern Cross Broadcasting today.
Hicks has been held in US custody since late 2001 when he was captured in Afghanistan.
He subsequently pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder, aiding the enemy and conspiracy, and was earmarked to appear before a US military commission.
But the charges were struck out when the US Supreme Court, in June, ruled it was unlawful for the commission to try Hicks and other Guantanamo Bay detainees.