By MARK PEARSON Follow @Journlaw
I’m looking forward to presenting with colleague Associate Professor Tom Morton from UTS (pictured) at the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism’s ‘Justice Open and Shut’ Symposium this week.
Dr Tom Morton
Below is the full program for the conference from the ACIJ website.
It’s a stellar line-up of Australian media law experts with the welcome guest presentation from Judith Townend from the Centre for Law, Justice and Journalism at City University, London, on ‘Transluscent justice? Digital and physical access to UK courts’.
Keynote speaker is the Hon. Philip Cummins, former Supreme Court judge and Chair of the Victorian Law Reform Commission, Chair of the Victoria Law Foundation and Chair of the Protecting Victoria’s Vulnerable Children Inquiry.
Dr Morton and I are speaking about progress with our research project on a forensic mental health patient we called ‘The Man Without A Name” because of restrictions on identifying people involved in NSW Mental Health Tribunal proceedings. Section 162 Mental Health Act (NSW) bans ID of anyone involved in either tribunal or forensic proceedings, with further requirements under the Mental Health (Forensic Provisions) Act. A breach can incur a fine of $5500 or a 12 month jail term.
See my earlier blog on this and Tom’s Background Briefing piece by the same name for Radio National.
We have won permission to name him in our academic writing – including on this blog – but I will hold back on that for today so I do not spoil the presentation for those attending on Wednesday.
I have previously compared the complex array of mental health reporting restrictions in Australia and New Zealand. (See here.)
In 2012 I compared three cases in WA, Victoria and the UK involving the identification of mental health patients. The case of Patient A has strong parallels with the Albert Lazlo Haines [pdf] case in the UK where a patient won an appeal to be named in reportage of his review proceedings.
This Australian case adds to that body of literature and is interesting from that media law perspective. It also interests us as an ethical case study, and we will be using it as the focus for an exploration of the application of the principles of ‘mindful journalism’ I have described previously.
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Conference program:
Justice Open and Shut: Suppression orders and open justice in Australia and the UK
“There is one hell of a fight going on in Australia to preserve our free press. We are increasingly seeing the rich and powerful resort to litigation to pursue journalists’ sources or lodge defamation writs purely to stop the publication of stories and scare off the rest of the media.”
Nick McKenzie, Fairfax Media, 2014 Press Freedom Australia Address
The increasing use of suppression orders undermines fair and accurate reporting of the courts and the fundamental principle of open justice. This workshop will explore the operations and impact of suppression orders on reporting in Australia and the UK.
A workshop for journalists, lawyers, academics and anyone with an interest in open justice, the media and freedom of the press.
The conference schedule is now available.
Keynote address: ‘Open Courts: Who Guards the Guardians?’
Keynote speaker: Hon. Philip Cummins – former Supreme court judge and Chair of the Victorian Law Reform Commission, Chair of the Victoria Law Foundation and Chair of the Protecting Victoria’s Vulnerable Children Inquiry.
Other speakers:
- Peter Bartlett: Partner Minter Ellison, Chair of the Advisory Board at the Centre for Advanced Journalism ast Melbourne University. Author of the law precis for MEAA State of Pres Freedom in Australia. Bartlett has represented Fairfax media and others in relation to suppression orders. He will speak on the use of suppression orders and its impact on the media and journalism, the operation of take down laws and trends observed since the introduction of the new Acts.
- Miiko Kumar: Barrister, Jack Shand Chambers and Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Sydney. Kumar appears regularly in applications for suppression orders on behalf of government agencies. She will provide an overview of the law relating to different forms of suppression orders, as well as recent cases involving Gina Rinehart and her attempted use of suppression orders in relation to court proceedings.
- Judith Townend: Centre for Law, Justice and Journalism, City University, London. Townend will speak on ‘Transluscent justice? Digital and physical access to UK courts’.
- Academics and journalists Mark Pearson (Griffith) and Tom Morton (University of Technology, Sydney): Open justice, investigative journalism and forensic patients.
- Elissa Hunt: has been a court and legal affairs reporter with the Herald-Sun in Victoria for more than 13 years. Her work has been recognized through numerous awards from the Victorian Law Foundation, including the 2014 Law Foundation’s Reporter of the year on Legal Issues. Elissa has recently been appointed as the Digital News Editor.
- Adele Ferguson: a multi-award winning senior business writer and columnist for the Age and the Sydney Morning Herald and author of the best selling unauthorised biography Gina Rinehart: The Untold Story of the Richest Woman in the World. Prior to joining the Age and the SMH, Adele was a senior commentator with the Australian. She has also worked at BRW Magazine as deputy editor and chief business commentator, leading many major investigations into the corporate sector.
- Jason Bosland: Deputy Director of the Centre for Media and Communications Law at Melbourne Law School where he teaches communications and intellectual property law. He holds degrees from Melbourne and the London School of Economics. His primary research interests lie in media law, including defamation and privacy, open justice and the media, contempt of court and freedom of speech.
This workshop is hosted by the Rule of Law Institute of Australia and the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism and is supported by the Centre for Cosmopolitan Civil Societies, University of Technology, Sydney.
Media Enquiries:
Tom Morton tom.morton@uts.edu.au
Kate Burns kate@ruleoflaw.org.au
When
10:00 am – 4:30 pm
Where
Venue: Mary Anne House, Level 3, 645 Harris St, Ultimo, Sydney.
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Disclaimer: While I write about media law and ethics, nothing here should be construed as legal advice. I am an academic, not a lawyer. My only advice is that you consult a lawyer before taking any legal risks.
© Mark Pearson 2014
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