JDT v PDL (No 2) [2022] QDC 147

Date: 24 June 2022
Court: Queensland District Court
Judicial Officer: Long SC, DCJ
Human Rights Act 2019 (Qld) Sections: ss 31(1), (3)
Rights Considered: Right to a fair hearing
Other Legislation: Civil Proceedings Act 2011 (Qld) s 43; Coal Mining Safety and Health Regulation 2001 (Qld) s 52(1); Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 1978 (Qld) ss 3, 4, 4A, 5, 6, 7, 10, 10A; District Court of Queensland Act 1967 (Qld) ss 8, 126; Supreme Court of Queensland Act 1967 (Qld) s 128; Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (Qld) rr 166(4), 166(5), 320, 321, 684, 685
Keywords: Public Law Considerations: Fair Trial; Civil Procedure; Privacy and Confidentiality

This decision concerned an interlocutory application regarding matters of civil procedure arising from defamation proceedings that were yet to be determined. The applicant sought to have their name anonymised in the court’s published reasons. The court considered it was in the interests of justice to grant an anonymisation order regarding the interlocutory judgment due to the unresolved nature of the substantive defamation proceedings. However, the court acknowledged that this would require reconsideration at the final determination stage of the defamation proceedings. In making this decision, the court noted that sections 31(1) and 31(3) of the Human Rights Act 2019 (Qld) recognised public hearings and publicly available judgments as civil rights: at [18].

Visit the judgment: JDT v PDL (No 2) [2022] QDC 147