SA courts impose near-record suppression orders in 2023, approaching Snowtown murders record
The state’s courts are chasing an unenviable record when it comes to secrecy. See the cases SA courts don’t want the public to know about.
Police & Courts
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The state’s courts have “perversely punched above their weight” by nearly equalling the record set, almost a quarter of a century ago, for suppression orders – making SA the second-least transparent jurisdiction in the country.
In 2023, the Supreme, District and Magistrates Courts imposed 308 publication bans – just 20 shy of the record 328 gags handed down during the “bodies in the barrels” serial killers trial in 2000.
That number also represents a further increase on 2022’s imposition of 277 gag orders, and continues the year-on-year rise in secrecy employed by the courts since 2019.
The biggest contributors to the tally were the Jason De Ieso murder trial, the ongoing Operation Ironside prosecutions, and alleged parent-poisoner Raelene Polymiadis.
THE JASON DE IESO MURDER TRIAL
26 SUPPRESSION ORDERS IN 2023
The biggest and most complex murder trial in recent SA history brought with it a tsunami of secrecy reminiscent of the courts’ approach to public insight in the early 2000s.
Eight men stood trial over Mr De Ieso’s November 2012 murder – seven were convicted, one will face a retrial in the coming months.
That retrial guarantees all 26 suppression orders will remain in force for some time, if not made permanent, and that more will likely be imposed in the days to come.
THE OPERATION IRONSIDE CASES
51 SUPPRESSION ORDERS IN 2023
The sheer number of defendants involved in the prosecutions arising from the AN0M app sting, and the crossover between their cases, has triggered ongoing secrecy.
Despite many of the cases having been finalised, and some offenders sentenced, the potential of trials for several others means the public is kept at arm’s length by the courts.
Additionally, some defendants are challenging the case’s validity in the High Court – and so their lawyers work to keep their identities hidden, in case their prosecutions are thrown out.
RAELENE POLYMIADIS
12 SUPPRESSION ORDERS IN 2023
From her first court appearance in July last year through her dramatic courtroom collapse and eventual release on bail, Raelene Polymiadis’ case has been obscured by court order.
Multiple allegations made, by prosecutors, about her “extensive attempts to interfere with both witnesses and evidence” can be mentioned only in those terms, and no further.
Additionally, reporting details of the application for the orders, or the magistrate’s reasons for imposing them, would be illegal – because they, too, are the subject of suppression.
WHY ALL THE SECRECY IN SA COURTS?
Last year, the state government vowed to “seek additional information” about the endless rise – but Dr Joseph Fernandez, from Curtin University, said that clarity was needed urgently.
“Something is chronically amiss when it comes to SA and suppression orders … over a long period, the state has perversely punched above its weight,” he said.
“Suppression orders foster drip-feed, misinformation and scuttlebutt as they arouse greater curiosity in the matter that is being shielded from public view.
“They have the potential to foster injustice, they obstruct the public’s ability to see justice in action and are a bane on freedom of speech that scrutinises the courts.
“They are an anathema to public trust in the courts and their use, in the name of the proper administration of justice, must be only as a last resort rather than the default position.”
SA SUPPRESSION ORDERS BY THE NUMBERS
After bottoming out in 2014, seven years after the government rewrote legislation to curb the trend, the imposition of suppression orders has continuously risen for the past five years.
Only Victorian judges were more secretive than SA’s judiciary in 2023, imposing 442 suppression orders, while NSW recorded a drop in orders compared with 2022.
All other states recorded increasing levels of court secrecy – with Queensland more than doubling its suppression orders, and Tasmania marking a 25 per cent increase.
WHY SUPPRESSIONS ORDERS NEED TO CHANGE
Dr Fernandez told The Advertiser the “rampant resort to suppression orders” undermined the “linchpin of public trust and confidence in the courts”.
“Such orders hinder good journalism as it forces journalists to engage in reporting acrobatics, or altogether avoid legitimate stories, to inform the public about matters which often can be easily accessed via social media or foreign news sites,” he said.
“The public desire for trust has increased, not decreased, in the light of scandals that have plagued our institutions … the best disinfectant against human failings is transparency.”
A spokeswoman for Attorney-General Kyam Maher said the government was awaiting the outcome of a review being conducted by the SA Law Reform Institute.
That review, which was announced in The Advertiser in April last year, is led by former District Court Chief Judge Geoffrey Muecke.
The review’s consultation phase closed in September last year.
“In 2007, the then Labor Government made significant reforms to suppression orders which significantly reduced the number of suppression orders made by the courts,” she said.
“The SA Law Reform Institute is currently undertaking an evaluation of suppression orders which has included extensive consultation with stakeholders and the community.
“The government looks forward to the outcome of that review and will consider its findings.”
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