X v Sydney Children's Hospitals Specialty Network (No 8)

[2011] NSWSC 1466

Supreme Court

New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation:

X v Sydney Children's Hospitals Specialty Network & Anor (No 8) [2011] NSWSC 1466

Hearing dates:

25 November 2011

Decision date:

25 November 2011

Jurisdiction:

Common Law

Before:

Adamson J

Decision:

(1) Publication in Australia of the name of the Plaintiff and her next friend is prohibited, except that:

(a) the Court and Court staff, the parties to the proceedings and their legal representatives and witnesses in the proceedings may identify the Plaintiff and her next friend for the purposes of or associated with the proceedings;

(b) the parties to the proceedings may identify the Plaintiff and her next friend for the purposes of the administration of the public health system in the State of New South Wales; and

(c) references to previous judgments of the Court are not in breach of this order.

(2) Publication in Australia of other material that would be likely to identify the Plaintiff, such as the names of members of her family, is prohibited except that the Court and Court staff, the parties to the proceedings and their legal representatives and witnesses in the proceedings may identify them for the purposes of or associated with the proceedings.

(3) For the purposes of orders (1) and (2), "parties" includes:

(a) the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales, including but not limited to the New South Wales Minister for Health and the Ministry of Health; and

(b) the parties' insurers and indemnity organisations.

(4) The Plaintiff be otherwise identified by the pseudonym, "X".

(5) The Plaintiff's next friend be otherwise identified by the pseudonym, "Y".

(6) These orders have effect until 5 December 2016, subject to further order of the Court.

Catchwords:

PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE - courts and judges - extension of pseudonym order in respect of the plaintiff - court satisfied that extension of pseudonym order necessary in the circumstances

Legislation Cited:

- Court Suppression and Non-publication Orders Act 2010 (NSW) - s 8(1)(c)

Cases Cited:

X v Sydney Children's Hospitals Specialty Network & Anor [2011] NSWSC 1272

Category:

Consequential orders

Parties:

- "X" (Plaintiff)
- Sydney Children's Hospitals Specialty Network (Randwick and Westmead) (Incorporating The Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children) (First Defendant)
- Dr Brian Kearney (Second Defendant)

Representation:

Counsel:
- K.M. Connor SC (Plaintiff)
- S.A. Woods (First Defendant)
- Mention by First Defendant (Second Defendant)
Solicitors:
Paul A. Curtis & Co (Plaintiff)
GILD Insurance Litigation (First Defendant)
Blake Dawson (Second Defendant)

File Number(s):

2002/069388

Publication restriction:

Suppression order in respect of Plaintiff

Judgment

Application to extend suppression orders

1. Mr Connor SC for the applicant X, who was the plaintiff in proceedings brought against the Sydney Children's Hospital Specialty Network and Dr Kearney, has applied for an extension of the suppression order which I made on 27 October 2011 in this matter ( X v Sydney Children's Hospitals Specialty Network & Anor [2011] NSWSC 1272). The order I made, relevantly, was that a suppression order of the plaintiff's name have effect until seven days after the close of evidence in the present proceedings, subject to further order of the Court. In the interim, these proceedings have been resolved and, accordingly, the duration of the order is presently open-ended.

1. Mr Connor applies for the order to be extended until 5 December 2016 which will be the plaintiff's 21st birthday. Mr Woods, who appears for the first respondent/defendant and mentions the matter on behalf of the second respondent/defendant, neither consents to, nor opposes the extension.

1. Mr Connor submits that such an extension is appropriate having regard to the following circumstances. The plaintiff is presently aged 15 and she will turn 16 at the end of this year. She is in year 9. It follows that if she continues to attend school she will be just turning 19 when she finishes year 12. I have heard evidence in the course of the proceedings to the effect that it is likely that when she finishes school there will be a significant disruption to her life and her preference for routine will be disrupted. Mr Connor, accordingly, submits that it would be appropriate to allow what I might describe as a 'buffer period' of two years after the plaintiff finishes school to see how her mental state is and how she is progressing since it may be that knowledge of those proceedings and what occurred therein could be detrimental to her psychological welfare.

1. I take into account the evidence that I took into account in making the original suppression order which is referred to in my decision dated 27 October 2011. In particular, I am satisfied pursuant to section 8(1)(c) of the Court Suppression and Non-publication Orders Act 2010 (NSW) that an order suppressing the plaintiff's name is necessary to protect her psychological and psychiatric safety.

1. Section 8(2) requires me to specify the ground or grounds on which the order is made and I am satisfied that the appropriate ground is s 8(1)(c). I referred in my earlier decisions to other grounds, namely s 8(1)(a) and s 8(1)(e), but s 8(1)(a) and s 8(1)(e) are no longer germane, the proceedings having been settled. Accordingly, I extend the order which I made on 27 October 2011 until 5 December 2016.

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