Index of material on Courts and Contempt

This website contains a number of articles and references to issues of the courts and to contempt. These include:

March 2007 Public Address:

Access to Justice - The Media, the Courts and the Public Record, WA Chief Justice Wayne Martin's Address.

2005 Annual Address:

Entitled Much Ado About Nothing - the True State of the Judicature, Richard Ackland's Address.

Justice Ron Sackville's response The Judiciary and the Media: A Clash of Cultures.

in the FoP section:

2007-2008 Free Speech Issues in Annual Report
on suppression
on access to court documents

2006-2007 Free Speech Issues in Annual Report
on suppression
on access to court documents

2005-2006 Free Speech Issues in Annual Report
on contempt of court matters
on suppression
on access to court documents

2004-2005 Free Speech Issues in Annual Report
on contempt of court matters
on suppression
on juries
on access to court documents

2003-2004 Free Speech Issues in Annual Report
on contempt of court matters
on access to court documents

2002-2003 Freedom of the Press summary
on contempt and court matters

2001-2002 Freedom of the Press summary
on contempt and court matters

2000-2001 Freedom of the Press summary
on contempt and court matters
on juries

1999-2000 Freedom of the Press summary
on contempt and court matters
on juries

1998-99 Freedom of the Press summary
on contempt
on juries

1997-98 Freedom of the Press summary
on contempt
on juries

Australian press law articles:
Access to and disclosure of court documents and proceedings
The role of the courts

Press Council positions:
Law of Contempt
Justice - open courts and suppression

A 1995 Press Release:
GPR 194

Submissions:

December 2007 submission to the NSW Legislative Council Standing Committee on Law and Justice Inquiry into the Prohibition on the Publication of Names of Children Involved in Criminal Proceedings.

July 2006 submissions to the NSW Attorney-General and the Victorian County Court on their reviews of Access to court records.

August 2005 submission to the Australian Law Reform Commission on its review of the Uniform Evidence Acts.

April 2005 submission to the NSW Attorney-General on the Criminal Procedure Further Amendment (Evidence) Bill 2005 and on recent amendments to the Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act 1987 (NSW).

June 2004 submission to the Senate Committee looking at the National Security Information (Criminal Proceedings) Bill 2004.

June 2004 submission to the NSW Supreme Court looking at its policy on Access to court records.

May 2004 submission to the NSW Attorney-General on NSW Law Reform Commission Report 100, Contempt by Publication.

Contempt by publication - April 2001 submission to the NSW Law Reform Commission.

in the Guidelines section:

Suppression of names - GPR 50 and GPR 53

articles in the APC News:

February 1995 News item
Contempt in Singapore

May 1995 News item
Law of contempt

Suppression Orders
An unintended victim of a suppression order questions their worth

Honorifics and Equality in the Court
Should court reports include the use of "Mr", "Ms" etc in its references to defendants?

A Fair Trial
Has technology affected the opportunities for fair trials?

Suppression Orders
A court decision on naming names

Letter to the Editor
Prof Michael Chesterman on contempt laws

To Name or Not to Name
Two editors debate the ethics of naming defendants

"Gambler Admits Theft Lie"
A case where a newspaper published the name

Letters to the editor
Don Gunn and Frances Henke respond to Paul Murray's comments in "To Name or Not to Name"

Chris McLeod on court reporting

Courts and the Media discussion at the 1999 WAPC Oceania Regional Conference, Brisbane June 1999

Access to court records - a submission

Paying for news
A view on chequebook journalism, including payments to witnesses.

Press Council initiative on suppression orders

Further report on the Council's actions on suppression orders

The courts' response to the Council's actions on suppression orders

Two articles from Chris McLeod on contempt:
what judges are saying and a particular judgment

Accessing court documents
Inez Ryan looks at arguments for greater access made in recent Council submissions.

Access to Justice
A report of Chief Justice Wayne Martin's Public Address.