R v Huang

In the case of R v Huang, the appellant is facing trial on serious drug charges and had his bail appeal dismissed by the Court of Appeal of New Zealand on 13 December 2006. The Court subsequently made a suppression order prohibiting the publication of the judgment and any part of the proceedings in news media or on the internet or other publicly accessible databases until the final disposition of the trial. Counsel for the appellant subsequently sought an order revoking the suppression order, arguing that such an order was not sought by either the appellant or the Crown and that the Court did not give any reasons for the making of the order. The Crown opposed the lifting of the suppression order.

The legal issue before the Court was whether the suppression order should be revoked. The Court held that suppression orders of this kind were entirely standard when pre-trial rulings or judgments were delivered, and that such orders were made to prevent inappropriate information from coming to the attention of jurors at a later trial. The Court further noted that the assessments made in the judgment regarding the strength of the case and the appellant's flight risk were material to the issue of bail but ought not to be available to the jury that would try the appellant. Therefore, the suppression order was warranted.

In light of the above, the Court dismissed the application for an order revoking the suppression order made on 13 December 2006. No further orders were made by the Court.