Collaery v The Queen (No 4)

This matter concerned an application by the Attorney-General following the discontinuance of a prosecution against Mr Bernard Collaery. The core dispute revolved around the appropriate form of publication for judgments of the Court of Appeal that contained national security information, particularly in light of an earlier interlocutory appeal where the accused had succeeded in varying the scope of a redaction order. The application was heard by McCallum CJ.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether the Court of Appeal's judgment in *Collaery v The Queen (No 2)* should be published in a form consistent with an existing certificate or order, or whether a different form of redaction was now appropriate following the discontinuance of the prosecution. A secondary issue was whether the Attorney-General's second application constituted an abuse of process, given the prior interlocutory appeal.

McCallum CJ determined that the earlier order of the Court of Appeal of 5 November 2021 should be vacated. The Chief Justice reasoned that the discontinuance of the prosecution fundamentally altered the circumstances relevant to the publication of the judgments. Consequently, the judgment in *Collaery v The Queen (No 2)* was to be published in the form proposed by the Attorney-General, and the judgment in *Collaery v The Queen (No 3)* was to be published in the form proposed in Annexure C to the affidavit of Anthony Desmond Giugni.