Gag order granted for high-profile man ahead of Qld legal change

afr.com:

A high-profile man accused of rape in Toowoomba has been granted an interim non-publication order only days before new Queensland laws come into effect that would have allowed him to be identified.

In the Supreme Court in Brisbane on Friday, lawyers for the man – who has not been identified through multiple court hearings – asked for an interim non-publication order.

Queensland laws have prevented media identifying people accused of sex offences until they were committed to stand trial. Dan Peled

The application was made in court without the knowledge of other parties, including media organisations.

Supreme Court Justice Peter Applegarth granted the order, acknowledging that under the new laws, media organisations could have published stories identifying the man any time after midnight on Monday, before a formal non-publication order could have been lodged in the court on Tuesday morning.

“Given the publicity that the committal proceeding has attracted, there is 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 as Tuesday, 3 October 2023,” Justice Applegarth said in his judgment.

“The applicant’s right to apply under Section 7 [of the Criminal Law [Sexual Offences] Act 1978] should not be defeated by such publicity.”

Justice Applegarth said the applicant’s lawyers had indicated they would seek such an order “as soon as practicable after the legislation comes into effect”.

“It will take some time for the application for the interim order to be heard and determined,” he said.

The Queensland Police Service did not oppose the interim injunction order being made for the “limited purpose” of allowing the