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CHILDREN'S COURT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA ACT 1988 - SECT 51A

51A .         Court’s records, access to

        (1)         In this section —

        court record , in relation to proceedings before the Court, means —

            (a)         any formal document that has been filed with or issued by the Court in accordance with law and that forms part of the Court’s records;

            (b)         the transcript of —

                  (i)         evidence taken by the Court in the proceedings;

                  (ii)         any judgment (including the reasons for it) given by the Court in the proceedings;

            (c)         any document received into evidence in the proceedings;

            (d)         any written judgment (including the reasons for it) given, or written orders made, by the Court in the proceedings;

        reasons , in relation to a judgment, includes sentencing remarks.

        (2)         This section is subject to any other written law that relates to the possession or publication of documents and other records or to the possession of any thing.

        (3)         In respect of criminal proceedings before the Court, each of the following people is entitled, on request, to inspect or obtain a copy of any document that is part of the court record and any document received by the Court in sentencing proceedings —

            (a)         a party to the proceedings;

            (b)         the Commissioner of Police;

            (c)         the Director of Public Prosecutions appointed under the Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1991 ;

            (d)         the Corruption and Crime Commission established under the Corruption, Crime and Misconduct Act 2003 ;

            (e)         the Chief Assessor appointed under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Act 2003 ;

            (f)         the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administrative Investigations appointed under the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1971 ;

            (g)         the chief executive officer of the department of the Public Service principally assisting in the administration of the Young Offenders Act 1994 ;

            (h)         the CEO as defined in the Road Traffic (Administration) Act 2008 section 4;

                  (i)         a person authorised by one of the above persons;

            (j)         a person prescribed by the regulations.

        (4)         In respect of proceedings before the Court that are not criminal proceedings a party to the proceedings may, on request, inspect or obtain a copy of any document that is part of the court record.

        (5)         With the leave of the Court a person who is not referred to in subsection (3) or (4) may inspect or obtain a copy of any document that is part of the court record.

        (6)         With the leave of the Court any person may inspect or obtain a copy of any thing (other than a document) received by the Court in proceedings, on which information is recorded or stored, such as a photograph, tape or disc.

        (7)         With the leave of the Court a person may listen to or view a recording of proceedings before the Court.

        (8)         When giving leave under this section the Court may impose any conditions on the person’s access to information, including a condition prohibiting or limiting the publication or use of the information.

        (9)         A decision by the Court under this section is administrative and is final and not subject to any form of review.

        (10)         The regulations may prescribe fees to be paid for inspecting, obtaining copies of or listening to information under this section.

        [Section 51A inserted: No. 59 of 2004 s. 71; amended: No. 8 of 2012 s. 56; No. 35 of 2014 s. 39).]



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