In 2012, Hanna Legal represented the first and second respondents to an appeal brought in the NSW Court of Appeal by various media outlets against a successful application for non-publication orders made on behalf of our clients, Fadi and Michael Ibrahim, in criminal proceedings in the NSW District Court. 

The media outlets who brought the appeal included Fairfax Media, Nationwide News, ABC, Yahoo7, Seven Network, and Ninemsn. 

The appeal dealt with various interesting legal issues, including, whether an appeal from a suppression order made by the District Court lies to the Court of Appeal or Court of Criminal Appeal, whether the Court Suppression and Non-Publication Orders Act 2010 (NSW) is inconsistent with the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (Cth), and whether a court has the power to make “take down” orders requiring the removal of material from a website. 

The appeal was heard on 20 April 2012 and the Court of Appeal handed down its decision on 13 June 2012.  Although ruling in favour of the media outlets, it has become one of the most commonly cited decision by defence lawyers and others in non-publication order applications in criminal proceedings. 

To read the judgment, see: Fairfax Digital Australia & New Zealand Pty Ltd v Ibrahim [2012] NSWCCA 125.