To good people everywhere.
On Monday the 26th of October Dr Andrew Katelaris and I have our committal hearing and Constitutional challenge of the validity of section 105 of the Children And Young Persons (Care And Protection) Act 1998 NSW
This section of this Act removes the right of anyone anywhere to publish the name or use the image of a child, that was, or is, or is reasonably lightly to be in care.
This matter should be heard in an open Court (as no specific child needs to be identified in regards to the argument) but the current COVID-19 legislation is to some significant degree impacting our rights to open justice. I have made enquiry to the Court as to how this can be addressed so we can share what transpires and provide some kind of court access for those of you who are interested in this most important matter. We would like the public to be able to witness this hearing in the Newcastle Local Court and consider open justice vital to upholding the founding principals of our Representative Democracy.
In the interests of that open justice I have shared our argument for you in the pdf below.
All You Need Is Love xxx Pastor Paul
CHILDREN AND YOUNG PERSONS (CARE AND PROTECTION) ACT 1998 – SECT 105
Publication of names and identifying information
105 Publication of names and identifying information
(1) The name of a child or young person—
(a) who appears, or is reasonably likely to appear, as a witness before the Children‘s Court in any proceedings, or
(a1) who is involved, or is reasonably likely to be involved, in any capacity in any non-court proceedings, or
(b) with respect to whom proceedings before the Children‘s Court are brought or who is reasonably likely to be the subject of proceedings before the Children‘s Court, or
(c) who is, or is reasonably likely to be, mentioned or otherwise involved in any proceedings before the Children‘s Court or in any non-court proceedings, or
(d) who is the subject of a report under section 24, 25, 27, 120, 121 or 122, must not be published or broadcast in any form that may be accessible by a person in New South Wales whether the publication or broadcast occurs before any proceedings have commenced, during the proceedings or after they are disposed of.
(1AA) The name of a child or young person who is or has been under the parental responsibility of the Minister or in out-of-home care must not be published or broadcast in any form that may be accessible by a person in New South Wales, in any way that identifies the child or young person as being or having been under the parental responsibility of the Minister or in out-of-home care (however expressed).
Note : Identifying the child or young person as being or having been a foster child or a ward of the State, or as being or having been in foster care or under the parental responsibility of the Minister, or in the care of an authorised carer, are all examples of identifying the child or young person as being or having been in out-of-home care.
(1A) The prohibition in subsection (1) or (1AA) applies to the publication or broadcast of the name of the child or young person concerned until–
(a) the child or young person attains the age of 25 years, or
(b) the child or young person dies, whichever occurs first.
(1B) This section applies to the publication or broadcast of a child or young person‘s name to the public, or a section of the public, by publication in a newspaper or periodical publication, by radio or television broadcast or other electronic broadcast, by the internet, or by any other means of dissemination.
(1C) The publication of information to a website that provides the opportunity for, or facilitates or enables, dissemination of information to the public or a section of the public (whether or not the particular publication results in the dissemination of information to the public or a section of the public) constitutes the publication of information to the public or a section of the public for the purposes of this section.
(2) A person who publishes or broadcasts the name of a child or young person in contravention of subsection (1) or (1AA) is guilty of an offence.
: Maximum penalty–200 penalty units or imprisonment for a period not exceeding 2 years, or both, in the case of an individual or 2,000 penalty units in the case of a corporation.
Note : An offence against subsection (2) committed by a corporation is an executive liability offence attracting executive liability for a director or other person involved in the management of the corporation–see section 258.
(3) Subsection (1) or (1AA) does not prohibit–
(a) the publication or broadcasting of an official report of the proceedings of the Children‘s Court that includes the name of a child or young person the publication or broadcasting of which would otherwise be prohibited by subsection (1) or (1AA), or
(a1) the publication by the Coroner’s Court of its findings in an inquest concerning the suspected death of a child or young person that include the name of a child or young person, or
(b) the publication or broadcasting of the name of a child or young person—
(ii) in the case of a young person–with the consent of the young person, or
(iii) in the case of a child or young person who is under the parental responsibility of the Minister–with the consent of the Secretary if the Secretary is of the opinion that the publication or broadcasting may be seen to be to the benefit of the child or young person, or
(iiia) in the case of a child or young person whose suspected death is the subject of an inquest by the Coroner’s Court–with the consent of the Coroner’s Court if that Court considers that the publication or broadcasting would be in the public interest, or
(iv) in any case–if the child or young person has died.
(4) For the purposes of this section, a reference to the name of a child or young person includes a reference to any information, picture or other material–
(b) that is likely to lead to the identification of the child or young person.
(5) The offence created by this section is an offence of strict liability.
(6) This section does not apply in relation to criminal proceedings.
Note : See section 15A of the Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act 1987 .
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