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Criminal Procedure Act 2011

General provisions - Public access and restrictions on reporting - Suppression of names

200: Court may suppress identity of defendant

You could also call this:

"The court can keep a person's identity secret if sharing it would cause them big problems or danger."

A court can stop people from sharing the name, address, or job of someone charged with a crime. The court will only do this if sharing that information would cause big problems for the person or someone connected to them. This can include causing someone a lot of hardship or putting them in danger.

The court also considers other factors, like whether sharing the information would affect a fair trial or put someone's safety at risk. If you are a well-known person, that alone is not a reason to stop people from sharing your name. When you first appear in court, the court can make a temporary order to stop people from sharing your name if you can show that one of these problems might happen.

The court must think about what a victim of the crime wants when deciding whether to make a permanent order, and the victim can share their views under section 16B of the Victims' Rights Act 2002. The temporary order will expire when you next appear in court, and can only be extended if the court is still worried about one of these problems. The court will keep looking at whether one of these problems might happen before deciding to make the order permanent.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM3360346.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Criminal lawCrime and justice > Courts and legal helpRights and equality > Privacy
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199D: Further provisions relating to temporary suppression of trial-related information, or

"Rules about stopping people from talking about a trial"

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201: Automatic suppression of identity of defendant in specified sexual cases, or

"Protecting the identity of people accused of certain sexual crimes"

Part 5General provisions
Public access and restrictions on reporting: Suppression of names

200Court may suppress identity of defendant

  1. A court may make an order forbidding publication of the name, address, or occupation of a person who is charged with, or convicted or acquitted of, an offence.

  2. The court may make an order under subsection (1) only if the court is satisfied that publication would be likely to—

  3. cause extreme hardship to the person charged with, or convicted of, or acquitted of the offence, or any person connected with that person; or
    1. cast suspicion on another person that may cause undue hardship to that person; or
      1. cause undue hardship to any victim of the offence; or
        1. create a real risk of prejudice to a fair trial; or
          1. endanger the safety of any person; or
            1. lead to the identification of another person whose name is suppressed by order or by law; or
              1. prejudice the maintenance of the law, including the prevention, investigation, and detection of offences; or
                1. prejudice the security or defence of New Zealand.

                  1. The fact that a defendant is well known does not, of itself, mean that publication of his or her name will result in extreme hardship for the purposes of subsection (2)(a).

                  2. Despite subsection (2), when a person who is charged with an offence first appears before the court the court may make an interim order under subsection (1) if that person advances an arguable case that one of the grounds in subsection (2) applies.

                  3. An interim order made in accordance with subsection (4) expires at the person's next court appearance, and may only be renewed if the court is satisfied that one of the grounds in subsection (2) applies.

                  4. When determining whether to make an order or further order under subsection (1) that is to have effect permanently, a court must take into account any views of a victim of the offence conveyed in accordance with section 16B of the Victims' Rights Act 2002.

                  Compare
                  Notes
                  • Section 200(6): amended, on , by section 46 of the Rights for Victims of Insane Offenders Act 2021 (2021 No 55).