Stinson (a pseudonym) v Nationwide News Pty Ltd [2022] NSWCCA 235

Court of Criminal Appeal Supreme Court New South Wales Medium Neutral Citation: Stinson (a pseudonym) v Nationwide News Pty Ltd [2022] NSWCCA 235 Hearing dates: 11 October 2022 Decision date: 04 November 2022 Before: Macfarlan JA at [1]; Button J at [2]; Wilson J at [52] Decision: (1) Leave to appeal granted. (2) The interim orders made by this Court on 8 September 2022 are dissolved. (3) Any order of the Local Court restricting access to the court file, or suppressing any matter, or ordering non-publication of any matter, is dissolved. (4) The second and third respondents may have access to any relevant file in the Local Court, in the Supreme Court, and in this Court. (5) The fact that the applicant has previously been convicted of the offence of murder, and any of the underlying facts of that offence, are suppressed, and there must be no publication regarding the conviction or its underlying facts. (6) Order 5 above applies throughout the Commonwealth of Australia. (7) Order 5 above comes to an end at the conclusion of any trial by jury of the current allegations against the applicant, or earlier if it becomes clear that no trial by jury is to be conducted of those allegations. (8) Appeal otherwise dismissed. Catchwords: CRIMINAL PROCEDURE – Court suppression and non-publication orders – Grounds – Open justice – Presumption in favour of open justice – Inutility in making orders under Act where there are other mechanisms having similar effect – Where limited order "necessary" to prevent prejudice to administration of justice CRIMINAL PROCEDURE – Court suppression and non-publication orders – Grounds – Undue distress and embarrassment – Where undue distress and embarrassment is asserted by well known relative of applicant – Insufficient reason to order non-publication or suppression MEDIA AND COMMUNICATIONS – Open justice – Access to court files – Application for access – Where court proceedings occurred in open court – Access to file granted Legislation Cited: Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act 1987 (NSW) Court Suppression and Non-publication Orders Act 2010 (NSW) Cases Cited: Fairfax Digital Australia & New Zealand Pty Ltd v Ibrahim (2012) 83 NSWLR 52; [2012] NSWCCA 125 Gilbert v The Queen (2000) 201 CLR 414; [2000] HCA 15 John Fairfax & Sons Limited v Police Tribunal of New South Wales (1986) 5 NSWLR 465 John Fairfax Publications Pty Ltd v District Court of NSW [2004] NSWCA 324 Nationwide News Pty Ltd v JS and SD [2022] NSWSC 774 Police v Dunstall (2015) 256 CLR 403; [2015] HCA 26 R v Christie [1914] AC 545 R v Dawson [2022] NSWSC 555 Decision restricted [2022] NSWSC 1213 State of NSW v Bowdidge (No 2) [2020] NSWSC 159 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Reginald Stinson (a pseudonym) (Applicant) Director of Public Prosecutions (First Respondent) Nationwide News Pty Ltd (Second Respondent) Daily Mail Australia Pty Ltd (Third Respondent) Mattias Stinson (a pseudonym) (Interested Party) Representation: Counsel: G Scragg (Applicant) C Everson SC (First Respondent) MJ Lewis & E Aitken (Second and Third Respondent)