A high-profile man accused of rape has been granted a temporary court order preventing him from being named when new Queensland laws come into effect next week.
Under existing law in the state, a person accused of sexual offences cannot be named until they have been committed for trial – but that is set to change on Tuesday.
Under the legislation, accused offenders can apply to the court for an interim non-publication order to maintain their anonymity, but they cannot do so until the new laws come into effect.
The man’s lawyers have said they will apply for a non-publication order “as soon as practical” after the legislation comes into effect, according to a decision published on Friday by the supreme court of Queensland.
“Given the publicity that the committal proceeding has attracted, there is a substantial risk that, unless a temporary order is made, media reports identifying the applicant as the defendant in the committal proceeding will be published as early at Tuesday 3 October 2023,” Justice Peter Applegarth wrote in the decision on Friday.
Last Wednesday, the court was adjourned for six weeks to give prosecutors time to trawl through the alleged victim’s phone data.
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A high-profile man accused of rape has been granted a temporary court order preventing him from being named when new Queensland laws come into effect next week.
Under existing law in the state, a person accused of sexual offences cannot be named until they have been committed for trial – but that is set to change on Tuesday.
Under the legislation, accused offenders can apply to the court for an interim non-publication order to maintain their anonymity, but they cannot do so until the new laws come into effect.
The man’s lawyers have said they will apply for a non-publication order “as soon as practical” after the legislation comes into effect, according to a decision published on Friday by the supreme court of Queensland.
“Given the publicity that the committal proceeding has attracted, there is a substantial risk that, unless a temporary order is made, media reports identifying the applicant as the defendant in the committal proceeding will be published as early at Tuesday 3 October 2023,” Justice Peter Applegarth wrote in the decision on Friday.
Last Wednesday, the court was adjourned for six weeks to give prosecutors time to trawl through the alleged victim’s phone data.
The original article contains 404 words, the summary contains 197 words. Saved 51%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!