R v Alqudsi

By notice of motion filed on 1 July 2013, the Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police seeks orders pursuant to the Court Suppression Non-publication Orders Act 2010 (NSW) and the Surveillance Devices Act 2004 (Cth). The application is supported by an affidavit of Michael Phelan, the Deputy Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police, who is presently also Deputy Commissioner National Security, sworn on 3 July 2016. I was provided with an unredacted copy of Mr Phelan’s affidavit, with passages highlighted in yellow on which the Commissioner relies in support of the application. I have since returned that unredacted copy to the representative of the Commissioner for safekeeping. The Court file will retain the redacted copy which has been provided to the parties.

I am satisfied, on the basis of that affidavit, that it is necessary to make these orders by reason of s 8(1)(a) (necessary to prevent prejudice to the proper administration of justice); and s 8(1)(b) (necessary to prevent prejudice to the interests of the Commonwealth or a State or Territory in relation to national or international security) of the Court Suppression and Non-publication Orders Act.

With the exception of the orders in prayers 3, 4 and 5 of the notice of motion, no time limitation is expressed. The orders in prayers 3, 4 and 5 are sought “until further order” with a view to their being made as interim orders pursuant to s 10 of the Court Suppression and Non-publication Orders Act.

In deciding the period for which an order is to operate I am obliged to ensure that the order operates for no longer than is reasonably necessary to achieve the purpose for which it is made. I am satisfied, on the basis of the material in Mr Phelan’s affidavit that it is not presently feasible to predict how long the orders need to be in place, although one can envisage a time in the future when the matters referred to might become part of common knowledge in which case these orders will no longer be required. However, on the basis of current information, I do not propose to specify a period for which the orders are to operate with the exception of orders 3, 4 and 5.

Accordingly, I propose, pursuant to the Court Suppression and Non-publication Orders Act, to make the orders set out in paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 of the notice of motion with the following amendments:

I will read the orders on to the record because I note that there are persons in the courtroom who will be bound by the orders and who, accordingly, need to be made aware of the terms of the orders.