SUMMARY OFFENCES ACT 1953 - SECT 35
SUMMARY OFFENCES ACT 1953 - SECT 35
35—Restriction on reports of immorality etc
(a)
print, or cause to be printed; or
(b)
offer for sale or sell, or cause to be offered for sale or sold; or
(c) have
possession of for sale or distribution,
a newspaper in which any one report—
(d)
relating to legal proceedings involving questions of sexual immorality,
unnatural vice or indecent conduct; or
(e)
containing other material descriptive of, or relating to, sexual immorality,
unnatural vice or indecent conduct,
occupies more than 50 lines of 13 ems wide, or an equivalent space, in any
kind of type, or carries a heading composed of type larger than 10 point
capitals.
Maximum penalty: $2 500 or imprisonment for 6 months.
(2) In this
section—
"legal proceedings" includes sittings of Royal and other commissions of
inquiry and of select committees of Parliament;
"newspaper" means a copy of a periodical publication which is published at
intervals not exceeding three months, or any part of such a copy.
(3) For the purposes
of this section, separate articles in the same newspaper relating to the same
matter will be taken to form the one report, and all photographs illustrative
of, or connected with, a report will be taken to form part of the report.
(4)
Subsection (1)(b) and (c) prohibit, within the State, the sale, offering
for sale, causing to be offered for sale or sold, or having in possession for
sale or distribution, of a newspaper containing a report contrary to
subsection (1), whether the newspaper was printed or published within or
outside the State and whether the report relates to legal proceedings and
other matters taking place within or outside the State.
(5) It is a defence to
a charge of an offence against this section for the defendant to prove that
the report to which the charge relates—
(a) was
published at the direction of a court or other body conducting
legal proceedings; or
(b)
forms part of a genuine series of law reports that does not form part of any
other publication and consists solely of reports of proceedings in courts of
law; or
(c) is a
publication of a technical character genuinely intended for circulation among
members of the legal or medical professions.
(6) A prosecution for
an offence against this section cannot be instituted without the written
consent of the Commissioner.
(7) An apparently
genuine document purporting to authorise a prosecution under this section and
to be signed by the Commissioner will, in the absence of evidence to the
contrary, be accepted by a court as proof of the consent of the Commissioner
to the prosecution.