Restricted decisions

Judgments of the Court may be temporarily restricted where it would not be appropriate to publish the judgment publicly because publication of the Court’s reasons may jeopardise a future jury trial. Such judgments will only be published when the trial has concluded, and as a result, may be restricted for several years. However, these restricted judgments may determine or discuss important legal issues.

If a restricted judgment does not contain any statements of principle, no details of the decision will be published. If a restricted judgment contains statement(s) of principle, the medium neutral citation, judicial officer, and catchwords of the judgment will be published on the ACT Supreme Court website and circulated to the ACT Supreme Court judgment distribution list. The name of the decision will not be distributed, nor will any other identifying information.

For restricted judgments of the Court of Appeal only which contain statement(s) of principle, the decision in full (including the name of the judgment) will also be uploaded to the New South Wales Judicial Commission’s restricted judgments database.

Any inquiries about any restricted decision, including requests to obtain a decision in full, should be directed to the chambers of the relevant judicial officer (or the presiding judicial officer for judgments of the Court of Appeal). The provision of the judgment to practitioners will be at the discretion of the relevant judicial officer. Restricted judgments may be cited by parties in submissions.

Practitioners may also refer to the Notice to Practitioners regarding the circulation of details of restricted judgments containing a statement of principle dated 17 May 2024, available at Notice to Practitioners.