Suppression ruling but public remain

Press, 20 May 1980, Page 1

Suppression ruling but public remain

PA Wellington An interim order prohibiting publication of proceedings was made by Mr Justice Quilliam in the High Court at Wellington yesterday in the trial of two men’facing joint criminal charges. His Honour made the order after submissions by .counsel in chambers before the trial started. Mr K. G. Stone, counsel ■for the Crown, said the prosecution had opposed the applications for suppression when they were discussed in chambers and he wished that opposition . to be made known in open court. The orders made were as follows:— — Prohibiting ' publication of the names of both accused and of any particulars likely to lead to their identification.

— Prohibiting publication of any report or account of the whole of the evidence adduced and of

the contents of the indictment and of any part of the trial including the verdict.

“It is my present intention that these orders will ■ not continue in force indefinitely, and that ; a ; time .will be reached when the details of the trial may be published,” his Honour said. “In the interests of fairness and justice, however, the orders are likely to remain in force for a number of weeks, and should be strictly observed.” However the general public were not excluded from the court by his Honour when he suppressed names, indictments and evidence. Section 375 of the Crimes Act says: “Where on any trial the court is of the opinion that the interests of justice or of public morality or of the reputation of any victim of an alleged sexual crime or of extortion require that all or any persons should be excluded from the court it

may .direct those persons to be excluded accordingly. “In any case in -which the court may give any direction and whether or not it gives such a direction, the court .may make an order forbidding publication of any report or account of the whole or any part of the evidence adduced.” • Section 46 of the Criminal Justice Act also; gives the court power to prohibit publication of an accused’s name. -

“A very unusual course for a judge to take,” was the reaction yesterday from the Deputy Secretary for Justice (Mr B. J. Cameron), Mr Cameron said he would, not be prepared to say it had never happened in. New Zealand court history before. Each court was its own master, making its own decisions, and no records were compiled. However, in his personal memory, he could not recall a 'judge’s suppressing the publication of all proceedings before.