SUMMARISED REPORTS

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 454, 23 June 1937, Page 6

SUMMARISED REPORTS

POSITION OF NEWSPAPERS DEFINED Sydney 1 , June 22. The Chief Justice, Sir Frederick Jordan, to-day in a Fu., Court judgment defined the liability of newspapers which publish summarised versions of Court proceedings leading to contempt of court. He said that providing the summaries are fair and accurate newspapers enjoy the tame protection from contempt of court as they do with verbatim reports. “As a general rule the courts cannot accommodate all who desire to hear the proceedings in ■ certain cases,” he said. “Consequently the public has to depend on the newspapers for their reports, and so long as the published account is fair, accurate end in good faith, without malice, nobody can complain. I hold \ further, that, a summary cannot be i regarded ,as by reason only of i the fact that it failed to draw atiten--tion to a feature to which no promin-1 once was given before a Magistrate in ‘the- Loweu 'Court.” The judgment arose out of an action against-the Daily Telegraph Richard Terrill, who complained that a published summary of Court proceedings omitted to mention, featufis favourable to him.