Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

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SERVICE AND EXECUTION OF PROCESS ACT 1992 - SECT 96

Suppression orders

  (1)   This section applies to:

  (a)   a magistrate conducting a proceeding under section   83; or

  (b)   the Supreme Court of a State conducting a review under section   86.

  (2)   The magistrate or Court may, on application, order that a report of:

  (a)   a part of the proceeding or review held in public; or

  (b)   a finding publicly made by the magistrate or Court;

is not to be published.

  (3)   The order is not to be made unless the magistrate or Court is satisfied that the publication of the report would give rise to a substantial risk that:

  (a)   the fair trial of a person charged with an offence against a law of the Commonwealth or of a State triable by a jury might be prejudiced because of the influence that the publication might exert on the members of the jury; or

  (b)   either:

  (i)   a witness in a proceeding (including a pending or contemplated proceeding) before a court, authority or tribunal, or before a person who is authorised to take evidence; or

  (ii)   a member of the witness's family;

    would die or suffer personal injury; or

  (c)   property of such a witness, or property of a member of the witness's family, would be damaged; or

  (d)   the prosecution of an offence against a law of the Commonwealth or a State, or a proceeding under a law of the Commonwealth or a State for the recovery of a pecuniary penalty, would be prejudiced; or

  (e)   an investigation preparatory to such a prosecution or proceeding would be prejudiced; or

  (f)   national security would be prejudiced; or

  (g)   if the proceeding concerns an offence of a sexual nature--a victim of the alleged offence would be identified; or

  (h)   if the proceeding concerns:

  (i)   the welfare of a child; or

  (ii)   an offence of which a child is a victim; or

  (iii)   an offence alleged to have been committed by a child;

    the child would be identified.

  (4)   The magistrate or Court must not, by exercising any other power that the magistrate or Court might have, make an order in the nature of a suppression order for the purpose of preventing or lessening a risk mentioned in subsection   ( 3).

  (5)   For the purposes of this section, the members of a person's family are taken to include the following (without limitation):

  (a)   a   de   facto   partner of the person (within the meaning of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 );

  (b)   someone who is the child of the person, or of whom the person is the child, because of the definition of child in section   3;

  (c)   anyone else who would be a member of the person's family if someone mentioned in paragraph   ( a) or (b) is taken to be a member of the person's family.



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