State of NSW v Mathers [2019] NSWSC 7

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: State of NSW v Mathers [2019] NSWSC 7 Hearing dates: 11 December 2018 Decision date: 16 January 2019 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Button J Decision: (1) An order pursuant to s. 38(5) of the Terrorism (High Risk Offenders) Act 2017 ("the Act"): appointing one qualified psychiatrist and one registered psychologist to conduct separate psychiatric or psychological examinations, as the case may be, of the Defendant, and to furnish reports to the Court on the results of those examinations by a date to be fixed by the Court; (2) An order: (a) pursuant to ss. 27 and 28(1) of the Act, that the Defendant be subject to an interim supervision order for a period of 28 days from the date of the order ("the interim supervision order"); and (b) pursuant to s. 29 of Act, directing that the Defendant, for the period of the interim supervision order, comply with the conditions set out in the Schedule to this Summons. (3) An order restricting access to the Court's file in this proceeding such that access would be permitted to a non-party only with the leave of a judge of the Court, and with prior notice to the parties so as to allow them an opportunity to be heard in respect of the application for access. Catchwords: HIGH RISK TERRORISM OFFENDER – preliminary hearing – application for Interim Detention Order (IDO) and mandatory examinations – alternative application for Interim Supervision Order (ISO) - Sovereign Citizen Movement – discussion of statutory preconditions for making an order of any kind – discussion of whether IDO or ISO should be imposed Legislation Cited: Court Suppression and Non-publication Orders Act 2010 (NSW) Crimes (High Risk Offenders) Act 2006 (NSW) Terrorism (High Risk Offenders) Act 2017 (NSW) Category: Principal judgment Parties: State of New South Wales (Plaintiff) John Mathers (pseudonym) (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: B Hughes SC & J Harris (Plaintiff) M Ierace SC & P Coady (Defendant) Solicitors: Crown Solicitor's Office (Plaintiff) Legal Aid NSW (Defendant) File Number(s): 2018/367595 Publication restriction: Pseudonym adopted for the defendant