Adjudication No. 1350  (adjudicated March 2007)

The Australian Press Council has dismissed a complaint from Janet Mullins about a report published in The Canberra Times on 2 December 2006.

The report concerned court proceedings in which a bank sought to seize property on which Ms Mullins and her husband Mark Mullins owed money.

Ms Mullins said that the report inaccurately reported the judgment of the court, unfairly linked her with criminal charges facing her husband and invaded her privacy.

The newspaper said its report was a fair summation of the proceedings and that Ms Mullins was a named party in the case and gave evidence to the court.

The newspaper's rebuttal of Ms Mullins's criticisms is supported by the transcript of the judgment of the court, which found against the couple. The report clearly relies to a great extent on the transcript of the judge's decision and fairly reflects judge's summation of the evidence given in the case.

The Council has consistently supported the right of newspapers to report open court hearings. It is not a breach of privacy standards for a newspaper to report accurately matters on the public record.

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