Western Australian Current Acts Western Australian Current Acts (1) Despite
section 20I, a person acting judicially may direct a person referred to in
that section to give identifying evidence.
(2) A person acting
judicially may give a direction only if satisfied that, having regard to the
issues to be determined in the proceeding, the public interest in the
disclosure of the identity of the informant outweighs —
(a) any
likely adverse effect of the disclosure of the identity on the informant or
any other person; and
(b) the
public interest in the communication of facts and opinions to the public by
the news media and, accordingly also, in the ability of the news media to
access sources of facts.
(3) Without limiting
the matters that a person acting judicially may have regard to for the
purposes of this section, the person acting judicially must have regard to the
following matters —
(a) the
probative value of the identifying evidence in the proceeding;
(b) the
importance of the identifying evidence in the proceeding;
(c) the
nature and gravity of the relevant offence, cause of action or defence and the
nature of the subject matter of the proceeding;
(d) the
availability of any other evidence concerning the matters to which the
identifying evidence relates;
(e) the
likely effect of the identifying evidence, including the likelihood of harm,
and the nature and extent of harm that would be caused to the informant or any
other person;
(f) the
means, including any ancillary orders that may be made under section 20M,
available to the person acting judicially to limit the harm or extent of the
harm that is likely to be caused if the identifying evidence is given;
(g) the
likely effect of the identifying evidence in relation to —
(i)
a prosecution that has commenced but has not been
finalised; or
(ii)
an investigation, of which the person acting judicially
is aware, into whether or not an offence has been committed;
(h)
whether the substance of the identifying evidence has already been disclosed
by the informant or any other person;
(i)
the risk to national security or to the security of the
State;
(j)
whether or not there was misconduct, as defined in section 20K(1), on the part
of the informant or the journalist in relation to obtaining, using, giving or
receiving information.
(4) A person acting
judicially must state the person’s reasons for giving or refusing to
give a direction.
[Section 20J inserted: No. 31 of 2012 s. 5.]