Criminal Procedure Act 2021
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Hearings not to be published or broadcast | ||
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10. (1) No person shall publish or broadcast or cause to be published or broadcast any information about a preliminary trial hearing or an appeal under section 7 other than— | ||
(a) a statement of the fact that such a hearing is to be, or is being, conducted, or such an appeal is being brought, as the case may be, in respect of proceedings for an offence against a named person, or | ||
(b) where an order has been made by the court at a preliminary trial hearing or in an appeal under section 7 , as the case may be, and that court is satisfied that such publication or broadcast is not contrary to the interests of justice, a statement of the fact that such an order has been made. | ||
(2) Subsection (1) shall apply until the conclusion of the trial of the offence concerned or until such other time as the trial judge or the court hearing the appeal concerned, as the case may be, may direct. | ||
(3) If, on application by the prosecution, it appears to a judge of the District Court that a person has contravened subsection (1), the judge may certify to that effect to the High Court. | ||
(4) On receiving a certificate under subsection (3) , the High Court may— | ||
(a) inquire into the matter to which the certificate relates, and | ||
(b) after hearing any witnesses and after considering any statement that may be offered in defence of the person alleged to have contravened subsection (1) , punish, or take steps for the punishment of, that person in the like manner as if he or she had been guilty of contempt of the court. | ||
(5) This section shall not affect— | ||
(a) the operation of any other enactment that imposes further restrictions on the extent to which information relating to court proceedings may be published or broadcast, or | ||
(b) any power conferred on a court by such an enactment to make an order authorising the publication or broadcast of such information. | ||
(6) In this section— | ||
“broadcast” has the same meaning as it has in the Broadcasting Act 2009 ; | ||
“publish” means publish to the public or a portion of the public. |