Name suppression laws: How it works and what could change - The Front Page

The Justice Minister has ignored advice about what’s been called a potentially “dangerous” plan to give victims of sexual offending veto power on their abuser’s name suppression. Photo / 123rf

The Government plans to change laws to allow victims the right to choose whether a convicted sex offender gets permanent name suppression or not.

At the moment, automatic name suppression applies to protect witnesses and complainants under the age of 18 and those where certain sexual offences are alleged.

But, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has pushed ahead with a proposal to change name suppression laws despite “strong concerns” from the legal community.

Briefing documents released to NZME under the Official Information Act show the move was heavily opposed with multiple recommendations made.

Herald senior reporter Melissa Nightingale told The Front Page there are a few legal groups who think this is a really bad idea.

" [They say] there’s a lot of risks that come with it and the Ministry of Justice itself also gave a briefing to the minister saying ‘we do not recommend you proceed with this proposal as it doesn’t contribute to helping victims‘.”

No matter its iteration, name suppression laws garner a lot of criticism from the public. There is a constant commentary on the perceived reasons why someone gets to keep their name a secret.

Nightingale said there are multiple ways someone is granted automatic name suppression.

“If they’re children under 18, or if they’re victims of sexual offending... When we’re talking about defendants, there are some cases where they have automatic suppression. Such as, if they’ve been charged specifically with incest or sexual offending against a dependent family member.

“Also, if the defendant is a youth — that generally can’t be lifted except in certain circumstances. For example, a case in Wellington where a youth was charged with attempted murder. Because of the seriousness of the charge, he was moved up the jurisdiction into the High Court,” she said.

There are other instances where a defendant might get name suppression.

Jesse Kempson, who murdered British backpacker Grace Millane in 2018, would keep anonymity for more than two years because he faced other charges relating to two other women.

There were dozens of suppression breaches relating to Kempson’s identity. More than 100,000 Kiwi Google users typed his name into the search engine in the days after his arrest. British media used his name frequently in their coverage of Millane’s death and Kempson’s trial.

The officer in charge of the case, Detective Inspector Scott Beard, was warning New Zealanders that it was a crime to identify the accused killer on their social media pages. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was soon commenting on questions about the effectiveness of our suppression laws in the internet age.

Despite this, Kempson’s name and the fact he faced more allegations would remain suppressed, the courts ruled for fair trial reasons.

Nightingale, reflecting on how court processes have become more difficult in the internet and social media age, said it can be a “real mess”.

" I think we saw that with Jesse Kempson’s case as well that his name was already out there on Google and there was difficulty getting it down despite the name suppression. We’ve had plenty of other high-profile crime cases in New Zealand where that’s been the case.

“Social media is a whole other thing. People will post names. People will share names. Often, as a reporter, it can feel a bit rough when someone is granted at least interim name suppression, despite knowing that their identity is the city’s worst-kept secret and that it’s already been shared everywhere.

“But that’s what the courts decide and that’s what we’ve got to follow along with,” she said.

Listen to the full episode to hear more about concerns around the Government’s changes to the law.

The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting. She joined NZME in 2016.

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