General
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Thursday, August 20th, 2009The Irish Supreme Court has allowed two journalists to refuse to answer questions that would have made them disclose their sources. Trinity College senior lecturer and blogger Dr Eion O’Dell welcomes the decision, but thinks it falls short of recognising a full-blown journalists’ privilege.
Sad news
Friday, August 14th, 2009Auckland University law professor Mike Taggart has died. He was a colossus in the public law field, and a really nice guy to boot. His death wasn’t unexpected, but it’s no less tragic for that.
Monkeying around
Thursday, August 13th, 2009Sean Plunkett was on top form this morning. After interviewing the park manager with the vaguely familiar name who’s hoping people will contact him if they spot Minty the runnaway monkey, he wrapped up with: Thank you very much. That was Willowbank park manager Jeremy Maguire, who says: “Show me the monkey”. Well done, that […]
Blogger busted
Sunday, July 12th, 2009A British detective blogging about police issues under the pseudonym “NightJack” has failed in his attempt to stop the Times from revealing his identity. The ruling suggests that anonymous bloggers don’t have a reasonable expectation that their identities will be kept private. Well, those who are breaching police regulations in writing their blog, anyway. But […]
Well, sometimes there’s eye-gouging too
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009From Radio NZ this morning: The National Rugby League has plunged to an embarrassing low with the Sydney Roosters fined $50,000 and their Queensland State of Origin star Nate Miles suspended for six games for defecating in the corridor of a central coast hotel naked and in a drunken stupor. That’s sport.
Media law guide
Sunday, June 28th, 2009For 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 […]
Law Commission goes all social networky
Monday, June 22nd, 2009And 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, 2009Calling 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 […]
Sensational newsbreak: Bain worships devil, shills Coke
Thursday, June 11th, 2009I’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 […]
New High Court search rules
Thursday, June 4th, 2009There are new rules about access to court documents (including exhibits), both criminal and civil. They are more detailed and to some extent more liberal than the old ones. They open up a range of documents subject to the overriding power of a judge to seal them. Some documents, however, can only be searched with the leave […]
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