Jones v Trad (No 2)

Jones and Trad (No 2) concerned an informal application made by the appellant, Jones, for the redaction of portions of the Court of Appeal of New South Wales' reasons for judgment delivered on 20 November 2013. The dispute centred on whether such redaction was necessary to prevent prejudice to the proper administration of justice, balanced against the public interest in open justice.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether to grant the appellant's request for suppression of parts of its previously published reasons for judgment. This required the Court to consider the principles governing the exercise of its discretion to suppress its own judgments, particularly in light of the fundamental principle of open justice.

The Court of Appeal rejected the application for redaction. Their Honours reasoned that the appellant had not demonstrated that the continued publication of the reasons would cause prejudice to the proper administration of justice. The Court emphasised the strong public interest in open justice, which generally favours the unrestricted publication of court judgments. Without a compelling reason demonstrating a risk of prejudice to the administration of justice, the presumption in favour of open justice would prevail.

Consequently, the Court of Appeal ordered that the informal application for redaction of portions of the Court's reasons of 20 November 2013 be rejected.