State of New South Wales v Liddington (No 1) (Media Application)

The State of New South Wales brought proceedings against Mr Liddington under the Control of High Risk Offenders Act 2012, seeking to declare him a high-risk offender due to his involvement in terrorism. A media application was made for access to the file, which included documents tendered in open court, reports of experts, and summaries of phone calls from jail. The court was tasked with deciding whether to grant the media access to the file and, if so, under what conditions.

The primary legal issue was whether the media should be granted access to the file, considering the sensitive nature of the information and its potential impact on the purposes of the Act. The court needed to balance the public interest in transparency and access to justice with the need to protect sensitive information that could prejudice the proceedings or undermine national security. The court also considered the potential impact of granting access on the defendant's ability to provide an honest history and cooperate with the proceedings.

The court exercised its discretion under section 14(1)(b) of the Control of High Risk Offenders Act 2012 to refuse the media application for access to the file. The court found that the sensitive nature of the information, particularly the reports of experts and summaries of phone calls from jail, outweighed the public interest in access. The court emphasised the importance of high-risk offenders providing an honest history and the potential for access to frustrate the purposes of the Act. The court also noted that the preliminary and final judgments contained extensive reasons, and access to the exhibits was not required for fair and accurate reporting. The court made non-publication orders under the Court Suppression and Non-Publication Orders Act 2010 to further protect the sensitive information.