In a media release today, the High Court announced that it will make audio-visual recordings of hearings held in its Canberra building available on its website from 1 October 2013, supplementing written transcripts of the Court’s hearings that have been published on Austlii since 1994. The videos will be made available a few days after the hearing (to allow for confidential information, such as the suppressed names of witnesses, to be edited out), but the release observes that the delay is likely to reduce as experience with the procedure increases. The new policy applies to ‘all Full Court hearings in Canberra, other than Applications for Special Leave’.

The release notes that ‘[t]he Court’s decision to take these steps was made having regard to the nature of its jurisdiction and is not intended to set any precedent for other courts’. However, it does partially follow precedents set in other top national courts. Continue reading →

The High Court spent three days in the past week (including two in Perth) sorting through applications to bring appeals before it. The Court turned down some high profile cases (including The Age’s battle to resist revealing its sources for its reporting on MP Joel Fitzgibbon and businesswoman Helen Liu and Hancock Prospecting’s attempt to retain a stake in a Pilbara iron ore venture), while agreeing to hear appeals from six judgments: Continue reading →