Christian Porter defamation case: judge rules ABC defence file won’t be made public

Media companies lose bid to prevent 27 redacted pages of the ABC’s defence being removed from court file

Two major media companies have lost in their bid to have 27 redacted pages of the ABC’s defence in the Christian Porter defamation case released to the public, with a judge ruling the document should be removed from the court’s file “to prevent prejudice to proper administration of justice”.

Although Porter ended his defamation case against the ABC in May, agreeing to keep the document secret, both Nine and News Limited had sought access to the confidential file on the basis that allowing the parties to make such an agreement would amount to “special treatment”.

Justice Jayne Jagot had also questioned the agreement, questioning whether the two parties could agree to destroy documents contained in the broadcaster’s still-redacted defence.

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from World news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/3iXceYK