The trial date was set at a directions hearing in the ACT Supreme Court on Wednesday, with Acting Justice Anthony Whealy, QC, scheduling the hearing for a February 15 start.

It was estimated that a trial would last between four to six months.

But Canberra prosecutors must first overcome a bid by Eastman to avoid a retrial.

Eastman's conviction for the murder was quashed and a retrial ordered last year after an inquiry found his 1995 trial had been a miscarriage of justice.

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has since announced it would re-try Eastman for the 1989 assassination.

Eastman's legal team, in response, has applied for a stay against the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions' decision.

The court was told on Wednesday that the basis for the application to permanently halt the prosecution had been that Eastman could not get a fair trial.

Eastman's barrister, Chris Boyce, said that argument would involve a "number of planks", including delay, memory and the conditions in which he had served his time.

The DPP's counsel Murugan Thangaraj, SC, said the prosecution would adduce fresh forensic evidence to support its case.

The stay application was listed to be heard over two weeks from July 13.

Justice Whealy set the trial for six months after the stay application in case either side wanted to appeal his decision.

The judge ordered Eastman's lawyer to file written submissions by June, with the DPP given until mid-July.