Australian judge: Media should pay for retrials
By Leah McBride Mensching, Tuesday 4 March 2008 at 23:30 :: Press Freedom & Laws :: #1358 :: rss
The New South Wales Supreme Court is asking for new powers that would enable the court to penalise the media pay for criminal case retrials if the original trial is aborted due to news reports, The Australian reported Tuesday.
Judge Roderick Howie called for the court to be able to “make orders against a publisher for the financial consequences of publishing an article which results in the discharge of a jury even though the article does not amount to a criminal contempt.”
Howie found Elisabeth Sexton, a reporter from The Sydney Morning Herald, not guilty of criminal contempt over an article that led to a trial being aborted. Howie criticised Sexton, calling her “either incompetent or arrogant,” according to The Australian.
Andrew Stewart, a media lawyer of Baker & McKenzie, told The Australian that penalties are already currently in place that punish media for articles leading to trials being aborted, but those must be found in contempt.
“It seems wholly unfair on the media and contrary to principles of open justice and freedom of speech to force the media to pay trial costs when they have not been found guilty - when they have not prejudiced a trial,” Stewart told The Australian.
Sexton's article led a district court judge to discharge a jury in a criminal trial for fear potential jurors had read the report.
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