New South Wales Consolidated Acts

DISTRICT COURT ACT 1973 - SECT 179

179 Presumption in favour of permitting recording and broadcast of judgment remarks

(1) A person may apply to the Court in proceedings to which this Part applies for the Court to permit the recording and broadcast of judgment remarks of the Court that are made in those proceedings.

Note : Sections 9 and 9A of the Court Security Act 2005 prohibit the use of recording devices in courts, and the transmission of court proceedings from a courtroom, except in limited circumstances. One of those circumstances is when it has been expressly permitted by a judicial officer.

(2) If such an application is made, the Court is to permit the recording of the judgment remarks of the Court, and their broadcast by one or more news media organisations (whether or not the organisations are also the applicants), unless the Court is satisfied that--

(a) an exclusionary ground referred to in subsection (3) is present, and

(b) except in the case of the exclusionary ground referred to in subsection (3) (d)--it is not reasonably practicable to implement measures when recording or broadcasting the judgment remarks (including by making an order under subsection (5)) to prevent the broadcast of any thing that gives rise to the exclusionary ground.

(3) Each of the following is an
"exclusionary ground" for the purposes of this section with respect to judgment remarks of the Court in proceedings--

(a) that the broadcast of the judgment remarks would be likely to reveal the identity of a person in circumstances where the disclosure, publication or broadcast of the person's identity is prohibited by a suppression or non-publication order of the Court or by law,

(b) that the judgment remarks will contain material--

(i) that is subject to a suppression or non-publication order by the Court or the disclosure, publication or broadcast of which is otherwise prohibited by law, or

(ii) that is likely to be prejudicial to other criminal proceedings (including proceedings for the same or a related criminal offence) or a current criminal investigation, or

(iii) that is likely to reveal the existence of a covert operation carried out by law enforcement officials,

(c) that the broadcast of the judgment remarks would pose a significant risk to the safety and security of any person in the courtroom or who has participated, or has otherwise been involved, in the proceedings,

(d) that the Chief Judge has directed that the judgment remarks not be recorded or broadcast because, in the Chief Judge's opinion, the broadcast of the judgment remarks would be detrimental to the orderly administration of the Court.

(4) Without limiting subsection (2) or section 68 of the Jury Act 1977 , images that identify any of the following persons must not be recorded in connection with the recording or broadcast of judgment remarks of the Court made in proceedings to which this Part applies--

(a) the jurors in proceedings where the Court is sitting with a jury,

(b) an accused person or a victim in a criminal trial (or a member of the accused person's or victim's immediate family),

(c) any other person belonging to a class of persons the recording of images of whom is prohibited by regulations made under section 177 (2) (b).

Note : Section 68 of the Jury Act 1977 makes it an offence for a person to wilfully publish any material, broadcast any matter or otherwise disclose any information which is likely to lead to the identification of a juror or former juror in a particular trial or inquest.

(5) The Court may, on the application of a relevant person in the proceedings or of its own motion, make such orders as it thinks fit for the purpose of preventing the recording or broadcast of any thing that gives rise to an exclusionary ground or preventing a contravention of subsection (4).

(6) The rules may make provision for regulating the manner in which recordings of judgment remarks of the Court for broadcasts permitted by the Court are made, including--

(a) limiting the number and kinds of persons who may be involved in making such recordings in the courtroom, and

(b) providing for measures to prevent the recording or broadcast of any thing that may give rise to an exclusionary ground or prevent a contravention of subsection (4), and

(c) providing for the shared use of recordings among broadcasters.

(7) Nothing in this section limits--

(a) the circumstances in which the Court may decide to permit the recording or broadcast of judgment remarks of the Court, or

(b) the persons (in addition to news media organisations) to whom the Court may, subject to rules made for the purposes of subsection (6) (a), decide to grant permission to record or broadcast judgment remarks of the Court.