The Government will next week begin arguing its case to extract $1.2 million in damages from the three men who sabotaged the radar dome at Marlborough's Waihopai Valley spybase.
A preliminary hearing in the High Court at Wellington on Monday will hear the merits on whether the civil case the Government has taken should proceed.
In 2008 teacher Adrian Leason, Dominican friar Peter Murnane and farmer Sam Land cut through alarmed electric fences at the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) base near Blenheim without setting off any audible alarms or getting electrocuted before reaching one of two inflatable domes covering satellite dishes and slashing and deflating it.
The trio used the "claim of right" defence - subsequently amended by the Government - and said they were saving lives in Iraq by disrupting satellite transmissions and were acting for the greater good. A jury found them not guilty of burglary and wilful damage.
However, Attorney-General Chris Finlayson subsequently filed the papers on behalf of the GCSB to recover the cost of damages.