Condemnation Sought

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31548, 9 December 1967, Page 1

Condemnation Sought

An information seeking condemnation of 472 copies of the Sydney periodical “King’s Cross Whisper” will be heard in the Magistrate’s Court at Christchurch on December 21.

It will be the first such information heard in Christchurch against a publication, and is thought to be the first in New Zealand. The information has been laid by the Customs Department under section 282 of the Customs Act, 1966—under the old 1913 Act such informations had to be laid by the Attorney-General. A public notice in “The Press” yesterday said the information for condemnation had been laid against 72 copies of edition 37 of the publication, and against 400 copies of edition 38, all of which had been imported into New Zealand by Peter Bingham Fisher, a Christchurch bookseller. Persons claiming any interest in the goods could appear at the hearing and so become a party to the proceedings, the notice said.

The registrar of the Magistrate’s Court (Mr T. A. F. Withers) said yesterday that under the Act the Customs Department, if satisfied the goods were worth less than S2OOO, could lay an information for condemnation with the Magistrate’s Court. This required a hearing before a magistrate to be arranged. The magistrate could acquit or condemn the goods concerned, and if no person claiming any interest appeared, the magistrate automatically condemned them. Costs could be awarded against any parties to the proceedings, and appeals could be made to the Supreme Court against any order or against the magistrate’s refusal to make an order.

Mr Fisher, who distributes the publication throughout

New Zealand, said yesterday that he would contest the information. The Collector of Customs at Christchurch (Mr F. O. Spackman) said there had been many cases of condemnation proceedings, but he thought this would be the first case under the 1966 Act against a publication. About three weeks ago it was reported that distribu-

tion of the periodical, which is published every three weeks, had been stopped in New Zealand by the Customs Department, which had seized editions. A special edition called “The Girls from Whisper” had also been withheld by the department on the ground that it was indecent, and had been referred to the Indecent Publications Tribunal for a ruling.