State of New South Wales v Williamson (No. 2) [2019] NSWSC 936

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: State of New South Wales v Williamson (No. 2) [2019] NSWSC 936 Hearing dates: 26 June 2019; 11 July 2019 & 22 July 2019 Date of orders: 25 July 2019 Decision date: 25 July 2019 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Davies J Decision: 1. I order pursuant to ss 7 and 8(1)(e) of the Court Suppression and Non-publication Orders Act 2010 (NSW) that there be no publication of the (a) present or future residence of the defendant, (b) the identity or the places of business of the defendant's employer.

2. The non-publication order does not apply to any person with responsibility for the defendant under the Child Protection (Offenders Registration) Act 2000 (NSW).

3. The non-publication order is to remain in force for 12 months from the date hereof.

4. The non-publication order is to apply throughout the Commonwealth of Australia.

5. The interim orders made by me on 26 June and extended on 2 July and 11 July 2019 are vacated. Catchwords: CIVIL PROCEDURE – application for a general non-publication order under s 8(1) Court Suppression and Non-publication Orders Act 2010 (NSW) – applicant convicted high risk sex offender – released into the community on parole 7 years ago – upon expiry of parole an extended supervision order was made for 5 years – subsequent application for a further ESO was made and dismissed – interim non-publication orders pending the determination of the present motion – whether general non-publication order was necessary to protect the safety of any person – no recent matters which might be thought to threaten the safety of the applicant – whether it was otherwise necessary in the public interest for general order to be made – whether unwanted media attention could impede the applicant's ongoing rehabilitation and reintegration into the community – high threshold of "necessary" not met – orders would be of little utility given other related and publicly available judgments – whether a limited non-publication order should be made – where the publication of the defendant's work and residence would significantly impair his rehabilitation – where a limited non-publication order would only marginally infringe upon any interest in open justice – limited non-publication order necessary in the public interest – limited order made for a period of 12 months Legislation Cited: Child Protection (Offenders Registration) Act 2000 (NSW) Court Suppression and Non-publication Orders Act 2010 (NSW) ss 7, 8, 10 Crimes (High Risk Offenders) Act 2006 (NSW) s 3 Cases Cited: Darren Brown (a pseudonym) v R (No 2) [2019] NSWCCA 69 Fairfax Digital Australia and New Zealand Pty Ltd v Ibrahim (2012) 83 NSWLR 52; [2012] NSWCCA 125 Prothonotary of the Supreme Court of New South Wales v Dowling (No 6) [2018] NSWSC 1715 R v Qaumi (No 15) (Non-publication order) [2016] NSWSC 318 Rinehart v Welker (2011) 93 NSWLR 311; [2011] NSWCA 403 State of New South Wales v Burns [2014 NSWSC 1014 State of New South Wales v Delaporte [2014] NSWSC 1165 State of New South Wales v Williamson [2014] NSWSC 519 State of New South Wales v Williamson [2014] NSWSC 939 State of New South Wales v Wilmot (Supreme Court (NSW), 21 June 2019, unrep) State of New South Wales v Williamson [2019] NSWSC 812 State of New South Wales v XY (Supreme Court (NSW), 17 June 2019, unrep) State of NSW v Kay [2017] NSWSC 274 The State of NSW v Colin John Fisk [2009] NSWSC 778 Texts Cited: Nil Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: State of New South Wales (Plaintiff) Terry John Williamson (Defendant) Representation: Counsel: J Single & E Sullivan (Plaintiff) J Stratton SC & T Hennessy (Defendant)