X v Sydney Children's Hospitals Specialty Network & Anor [2011] NSWSC 1272

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: X v Sydney Children's Hospitals Specialty Network & Anor [2011] NSWSC 1272 Hearing dates: 25 October 2011 Decision date: 27 October 2011 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Adamson J Decision: (1) Publication in Australia of the name of the Plaintiff and her next friend is prohibited, except that: (a) the Court and Court staff, the parties to the proceedings and their legal representatives and witnesses in the proceedings may identify the Plaintiff and her next friend for the purposes of or associated with the proceedings; (b) the parties to the proceedings may identify the Plaintiff and her next friend for the purposes of the administration of the public health system in the State of New South Wales; and (c) references to previous judgments of the Court are not in breach of this order. (2) Publication in Australia of other material that would be likely to identify the Plaintiff, such as the names of members of her family, is prohibited except that the Court and Court staff, the parties to the proceedings and their legal representatives and witnesses in the proceedings may identify them for the purposes of or associated with the proceedings. (3) For the purposes of orders (1) and (2), "parties" includes: (a) the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, including but not limited to the New South Wales Minister for Health and the Ministry of Health; and (b) the parties' insurers and indemnity organisations. (4) The Plaintiff be otherwise identified by the pseudonym, "X". (5) The Plaintiff's next friend be otherwise identified by the pseudonym, "Y". (6) These orders have effect until seven days after the close of evidence in the present proceedings, subject to further order of the Court. Catchwords: PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE - COURTS AND JUDGES - Court Suppression and Non-publication Orders Act 2010 - pseudonym order in respect of the Plaintiff - Court satisfied that pseudonym order is necessary in the circumstances. Legislation Cited: - Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) - s 72 - Court Suppression and Non-publication Orders Act 2010 (NSW) - s 4, s 7, s 8, s 11, s 12 Cases Cited: - Ax v Stern [2008] VSC 400 - BT v Oei [1999] NSWSC 1082 - E v Australian Red Cross Society and Ors (1991) 27 FCR 310 - TK v Australian Red Cross Society (1989) 1 WAR 335 - Sydney South West Area Health Service v MD [2009] NSWCA 343 Category: Interlocutory applications Parties: - Anonymised (Plaintiff) - Sydney Children's Hospitals Specialty Network (Randwick and Westmead) (Incorporating The Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children) (First Defendant) - Dr Brian Kearney Representation: Counsel: - K.M. Connor SC, Ms K. Sant, Ms M. Avenell (Plaintiff) - M.J. Windsor SC, S.A. Woods (First Defendant) - J.K. Kirk SC, Ms V.A. Thomas (Second Defendant) Solicitors: Paul A. Curtis & Co (Plaintiff) GILD Insurance Litigation (First Defendant) Blake Dawson (Second Defendant) File Number(s): 02/069388