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Archive for June, 2009

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New BSA member

Monday, June 29th, 2009

Mary Anne Shanahan has been appointed to replace Diane Musgrave at the BSA. She is a lawyer, but is not being appointed chair (that’s still Jo Morris): she has been appointed to the “community rep” position. (One of the four members is appointed after consultation with broadcasters, and one after consultation with “public interest groups […]

Media law guide

Sunday, June 28th, 2009

For the edification of the masses, I’ve added a range of headings over on the left giving basic information on some of the most important areas of New Zealand media law. If you want more detail (particularly from a journalist’s point of view) you might try my book Media Minefield. If you want even more […]

How I think the Bill of Rights is supposed to work

Sunday, June 28th, 2009

I’ve mentioned an article I wrote with Claudia Geiringer about the Bill of Rights Act for Law, Liberty and Legislation – Essays in Honour of John Burrows QC. It’s called “Moving from Self-Justication to Demonstrable Justification – the Bill of Rights and the Broadcasting Standards Authority”. It has already been cited favourably in a couple […]

Law Commission goes all social networky

Monday, June 22nd, 2009

And you thought they were geeks. Bzzzzt. The Law Commission has launched an interactive website called “TalkLaw” for us to have our say on law reform issues. (I did a couple of holiday stints at the Law Commission in the early 90s, and they were throwing around a similar idea then – but it was […]

Bain – and antidote?

Friday, June 12th, 2009

Calling evidence experts… Can anyone tell me why the Courts couldn’t have let the jury see half of the “paper run alibi” evidence? Why couldn’t jurors be told that David Bain was speculating about committing a crime, but it wasn’t murder, and it didn’t involve his family… and then let them hear and assess in […]

TV3 broadcasts “I shot the prick” tape extract

Friday, June 12th, 2009

Here. Was it legal? As I understand it, there’s still an application before the High Court for access to the deleted part of the tape from the Court file. It might be happening right now. But I’m not aware of any decision granting access yet. TV3 told us that “the Supreme Court said the material […]

Sensational newsbreak: Bain worships devil, shills Coke

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

I’m told that if you listen to the Bain tape backward, you can distinctly hear him saying “Oh here’s to my sweet Satan”. Also, if you speed up one passage, you’ll catch him saying: “Drink Coca Cola. Coke adds life”. [If you’re interested in our aural suggestibility, check out this fascinating site. You can listen […]

Breathless reporting?

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

I was prepared to be outraged this morning. What the hell? I thought. The Supreme Court overruled the High Court and the Court of Appeal and prevented telephone confession evidence from David Bain going to the jury? What were they thinking? I’ve now read the judgment (note the bizarre url on Stuff’s website’s link to the judgment: […]

Defaming David?

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

I’m on RNZ’s Checkpoint and TV3 this evening talking about whether all those comments posted on social networking sites that say “Bain is guilty” (and colourful variations thereon) are defamatory. I’ve also been interviewed for an NZPA story. The answer: of course it’s defamatory to call someone a murderer. Yes, he could sue any number […]

The Bain of the media?

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

Team David has set up a very professional looking website, including a Bain blog, to raise funds for him. The site credits TV3, TVNZ and the NZ Herald for “their support in making this site possible.” I suspect that their role was restricted to allowing the site to use some photos. I hope so, anyway. […]

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