Media groups and the Australian Press Council put their case to a NSW parliamentary inquiry into the naming of children in criminal proceedings. Amendments to the Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act 1987 have induced “incredulity in newsrooms”, says Fairfax’s lawyer Richard Coleman ... more
Category: Suppression
Director of Public Prosecutions v Mr X
Victorian Supreme Court Justice Betty King stops Nine’s real-life gangland series Underbelly from going to air in Victoria tonight and takes a swipe at Channel Nine’s profit motive. GLJ has the full transcript of yesterday’s hearing and the judge’s ruling ... more
Christina Rich v Anthony Harrington & Ors
Media companies banned from seeing “irrelevant” documents in Christina Rich’s (pic) sexual harassment suit against PricewaterhouseCoopers. Federal Court judge Catherine Branson accuses journalists of sensationalism ... more
British American Tobacco Australia Services Ltd v John Fairfax Publications Pty Ltd
Fairfax and Age newspapers agree to suppression of some of the tobacco documents but not others as Slater & Gordon takes up the fight over the alleged “iniquity” in dealings between BAT companies and their lawyers ... more
British American Tobacco Australia Services Ltd v John Fairfax Publications Pty Ltd
Tobacco companies searching for the leaker of the Clayton Utz documents, which supposedly reveal “iniquitous” conduct in the Rolah McCabe case. Slater & Gordon injuncted from disseminating the documents, which apparently have already been provided to the police and legal authorities ... more
British American Tobacco Australia Services Ltd v John Fairfax Publications Pty Ltd
Fairfax seeks documents about tobacco company “iniquity” with which to fight injunctions which have stopped further newspaper reports of explosive allegations about lawyer conduct in cigarette litigation ... more
Kamm v Channel Seven Sydney Pty Ltd
Convicted sex offender, known as “Little Pebble”, fails to stop Today Tonight broadcasting an interview with one of his victims. A second jury trial in relation to a further alleged victim is likely to be held in December 2005 ... more
Hit or miss system for notifying suppression orders
Because the onus is on the media to get it right and an honest mistake is no defence to a charge of contempt, by and large courts have persisted with sloppy methods of notifying suppression orders to news rooms and in-house legal advisers ... more
John Fairfax Publications Pty Ltd v District Court of NSW
Jurors should not be regarded as exceptionally fragile and prone to prejudice. Court of Appeal takes a firm hand with trial judges who coddle juries. A resounding win for open justice ... more
Nine Network Pty Ltd v Alasdair McGregor
Magistrate’s suppression of the DPP’s opening address in the Bradley John Murdoch committal was valid. However, the suppression of photos of Murdoch was made without jurisdiction ... more
Registrar of the Supreme Court of South Australia v Nationwide News Pty Ltd, The Age Co Ltd and The Herald & Weekly Times Ltd
Newspapers improve procedures to guard against breaching suppression orders, yet the courts have an uneven, and often outmoded, system of notifing these orders ... more
DPP v Carl Williams & Ors
Media commentary about Carl Williams and his family not likely to prejudice their imminent trials. Justice Cummins extols the robustness of the jury ... more