Name suppression not automatic in diversion cases
Thursday, March 6th, 2008Fairfax has won a significant victory in the Court of Appeal, which has ruled that people who have been given diversion should not automatically have their names suppressed. Justice Wild had held that they should, absent “compelling reasons” or “very special circumstances”. That effectively upended the usual presumption of openness. The Court of Appeal said: … […]
Banned book: get your copy now
Tuesday, March 4th, 2008Anne Hunt’s book Broken Silence, which I think I’m right to say is the only book ever to be banned and ordered to be pulped by NZ’s High Court, is now available for you to buy. The ban was overturned last year in a case I argued in the Court of Appeal (Hunt v A […]
I’m trivia!
Monday, March 3rd, 2008Today’s DomPost 5-minute quiz: 5. Victoria University academic Steven Price is an authority in which field of law? (Quick correction: I’m a barrister rather than an academic these days.)
Fact-checkNg
Monday, March 3rd, 2008A welcome new addition to the NZ Herald: Keith Ng’s new column “Just the facts”, which seeks to ferret out the truth behind factual and statistical claims made by politicians (… and the media?). I think we need more of this kind of journalism. Keith Ng, you may remember, famously exposed the misuse of statistics […]
Falun Going Going Gong?
Monday, March 3rd, 2008Can the Wellington City Council ban Falun Gong’s signs from the Botannical Gardens? In a typically thoughtful and comprehensive post, Dean Knight concludes: nope, unless they’re attached to structures. He also notes that there’s no rule as such against political signs. It seems from today’s DomPost (offline) that the council might be softening its attitude. […]
Your news leader
Friday, February 29th, 2008I’ve just come back from the injunction hearing. The application has been adjourned for 7 days to allow the defendants to look at the documentation (which they’ve only just received) and work out what position to adopt. This is pretty standard. The injunctions are continued in the meantime. There are two sets of proceedings: one […]
Illegal exclusion of media?
Friday, February 29th, 2008Yesterday, Justice Panckhurst closed the court to the media in a preliminary hearing on the Bain case. He is reported as saying that discussions were sensitive and could have implications for a fair trial. But these are not grounds for excluding the media. Check out section 138 of the Criminal Justice Act: 138 Power to […]
Media gagged on Health Board report
Friday, February 29th, 2008The Director-General of Health has won an injunction preventing media publication of a draft report into the conflict of interest at the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board. The Herald is reporting that the court order also requires the media to deliver up any copies they may hold. The Dominion Post reports: But last night the Crown […]
Ad strategy: attract complaints?
Wednesday, February 27th, 2008Surely Hell Pizza is trying to make its ads offensive so that it can attract extra publicity by having complaints against them upheld. How else to explain its direct mail ad that says: Hell Spicy BBQ Pork Spare Ribs are by all accounts a lot like having sex with Jenny Shipley – messy but good. […]
Something to get depressed about
Wednesday, February 27th, 2008The coverage of the story about the effectiveness of anti-depressants. Russell Brown provides some context. Russell also had to clean up the mess 60 Minutes made of the Herceptin story. And who can forget TVNZ’s leap onto the miracle cancer-cure lyprinol bandwagon? I mean, really, can’t we expect the paid journalists to do this work before […]
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