(High Court of Australia) The activities of a company which processed possum meat for export (‘what the processing of possums looks,and sounds like’) were not such as to attract the quality of being confidential for the purpose of the law protecting confidentiality.
Austlii Equity – Equitable remedies – Interlocutory injunction – Principles to be applied – Need for plaintiff to show a serious question to be tried – Defence that plaintiff has no equity – Nature of discretion to grant interlocutory relief – Relevance of implied freedom of political communication under the Constitution.
Practice and procedure – Interlocutory injunctions – Power of Supreme Court to grant interlocutory injunction – Whether s 11(12) of Supreme Court Civil Procedure Act 1932 (Tas) alters basis on which the Supreme Court has power to grant an interlocutory injunction – Purpose for which power exists to grant an interlocutory injunction – Meaning of ‘just and convenient’.
Torts – Privacy – Whether Australian law recognises a tort of invasion of privacy – Whether right to privacy attaches to corporations – Relevance of implied freedom of political communication under the Constitution to the tort of privacy.
Constitutional law (Cth) – Interpretation of Constitution – Implications from Constitution – Implied freedom of communication concerning government and political matters – Whether law providing for interlocutory injunction against broadcaster infringes implied freedom – Whether injunction if granted would infringe freedom – Relevance of implied freedom to grant of injunction – Whether properly or at all taken into account.
Trespass to land – Trespasser illegally made clandestine film of activities and gave it to a broadcaster – Whether owner has right to restrain publication of film by broadcaster.
Words and phrases – ‘unconscionability’ – ‘just and convenient’ – ‘interlocutory injunction’.
Judges:
Gleeson CJ
Citations:
[2001] HCA 63, 208 CLR 199, [2001] 185 ALR 1, 76 ALJR 1
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Tillery Valley Foods v Channel Four Television, Shine Limited ChD 18-May-2004
The claimant sought an injunction to restrain the defendants broadcasting a film, claiming that it contained confidential material. A journalist working undercover sought to reveal what he said were unhealthy practices in the claimant’s meat . .
Cited – Murray v Express Newspapers Plc and Another ChD 7-Aug-2007
The claimant, now aged four and the son of a famous author, was photographed by use of a long lens, but in a public street. He now sought removal of the photograph from the defendant’s catalogue, and damages for breach of confidence.
Held: The . .
Applied – Hosking and Hosking v Simon Runting and Another 25-Mar-2004
(Court of Appeal of New Zealand) A photographer was commissioned to take photographs of the children of a well known television personality. He took pictures of Mr Hosking’s eighteen month old twins being pushed down a street by their mother. Mr and . .
Cited – Imerman v Tchenguiz and Others QBD 27-Jul-2009
It was said that the defendant had taken private and confidential material from the claimant’s computer. The claimant sought summary judgement for the return of materials and destruction of copies. The defendant denied that summary judgement was . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Commonwealth, Information, Equity, Constitutional
Updated: 24 November 2022; Ref: scu.197006
