Tweeting in court
Tuesday, January 25th, 2011The English Chief Justice, Lord Judge (yep, that’s his name), has laid down some interim guidelines on tweeting in court. In short, he suggests that tweeting won’t usually prejudice the administration of justice, so it seems that permission should usually be granted. On the other hand, in some circumstances there may be reason to ban […]
No ordinary Joe
Monday, January 24th, 2011I interviewed Justice Joe Williams for The Court Report, about being a judge, his time as Chair of the Waitangi Tribunal, and about being the only judge on the bench with a top-20 hit. His responses are thoughtful and moving, I think.
Erin Leigh succeeds in defamation appeal
Sunday, January 23rd, 2011The Court of Appeal’s decision is pretty much exactly what I predicted here. The briefing paper and the oral briefing about PR staffer Erin Leigh’s departure from the Minstry of the Environment are – contrary to Dobson J’s ruling last year – capable of defaming her. But her negligence claim is a loser. The real […]
Without prejudice?
Friday, January 21st, 2011Isn’t much of the coverage of the Auckland child abuse case based on the premise that crimes have been committed, and implicitly, that they were by the parents (and another family member)? That includes some of the statements from the government, as where Social Development Minister Paula Bennett is reported as saying that it was […]
ECHR upholds Campbell, criticises success fees
Wednesday, January 19th, 2011The European Court of Human rights has endorsed the House of Lords majority finding in the Naomi Campbell case that her privacy was breached by the publication of photographs of her outside a Narcotics Anonymous meeting – and that this was not a disproportionate interference with the paper’s freedom of expression. (There’s lots of language […]
Memo to HOS: When a man is accused of dismembering his former partner, don’t pap their 5-year-old kid
Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010Yes, even if he may be an important witness. Especially if he may be an important witness. Even if he’s in a public place. Even if a different picture of the boy and his mum was supplied by the police. (Memo to the police: What the hell were you thinking?) Also, don’t try to justify this […]
Press Council agrees with me
Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010You might remember that I lambasted the Sunday Star-Times for its misleading front-page headline “Sex attack gets drunk driver off”. The story was about a woman convicted of drunk driving who hadn’t even appealed that conviction, only her sentence. Well, Andrew Geddis was equally incensed, and complained to the Press Council. It upheld the complaint.
BSA cracks down?
Monday, December 20th, 2010Is the Broadcasting Standards Authority, with its new personnel, getting tougher on taste and decency issues on TV? Earlier this year, it upheld complaints against TV3 for a somewhat raunchy scene in Home & Away at 5:30pm , and TVNZ for a somewhat raunchier scene in Hung at 10:10pm. Now it’s upheld two more complaints against TV3, […]
Another media name suppression beat up
Saturday, December 18th, 2010This article, headed “Porn accused gets name suppression” is in fact about a defendant who was denied permanent name suppression. An interim suppression order is due to lapse, but has been continued pending the defendant’s decision to appeal against the denial of permanent name suppression. (It’s obvious that this has to happen, otherwise the appeal […]
Pike River privacy IV
Friday, December 17th, 2010You may have seen the debate between Dr Nicole Moreham and I about the possibility of a privacy lawsuit against the media for showing pictures of grieving Pike River coal mine relatives leaving the meeting where they were told that the miners had certainly died. Here’s a recent BSA case that sheds some light. It […]
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