NSW State Government to Ban Unauthorised use of Electronic Devices in Court
Monday 14 January 2013 @ 12.01 p.m. | Legal Research
The Courts and Other Legislation Further Amendment Bill 2012 introduced into the Assembly on 21 November 2011 by the Attorney General contains this paragraph in the list of objectives for the Bill:
. . . (e) to amend the Court Security Act 2005 to prohibit the unauthorised use of any device (including a phone) to transmit sounds, images or information forming part of the proceedings of a court from a room or place where a court is sitting to a place outside that room or place
The Bill to date was viewed as mostly procedural and not controversial but has now drawn attention with the realisation by the media that journalists in particular “may be restricted from live tweeting or blogging from inside courtrooms in NSW under proposed laws banning the use of smartphones and other devices to ''transmit information that forms part of the proceedings of a court''.
To quote the Sydney Morning Herald the media is concerned that: “while the bill empowers judicial officers to make exceptions, it has thrown open for public discussion the question of whether media should be exempted.”
The bill has also drawn criticism from the NSW Law Society which has indicated that the proposed amendment might impact on the ability of lawyers to communicate with and relay information to clients.
The Government has responded by saying it will consult with the media and the professions as to appropriate exemptions.
The amendment is said to be in response to recent security issues arising in the courts where it was believed the evidence of witnesses had been communicated to other witnesses outside the court using electronic devices like smartphones.
The situation is really an interesting instance of the types of new problem being thrown up by new technology for the legal system and it will be interesting to see what is finally legislated in this respect.
To read more click here and here.
TimeBase’s LawOne Service guarantees reliable, accurate and convenient accesstoAustralian Legislation from all 9 jurisdictions. Contact TimeBase for a free trial today.
