Weapons Act 1990

In a proceeding arising out of a charge of having committed an indictable offence against this Act, the presiding judicial officer may make an order prohibiting the publication of all or any part of the proceeding and the name and address of any witness.

An application for an order under subsection (1) may be made in closed court in the presence of any person the presiding judicial officer permits and no other person.

On the hearing of the application, the presiding judicial officer may receive and act on any information the presiding judicial officer considers appropriate.

When considering an application to prohibit publication, the presiding judicial officer must have regard to—

the safety of any person; and

the extent to which the detection of offences of a like nature may be affected; and

the need to guarantee the confidentiality of information given by an informer.

A person who contravenes an order made by a presiding judicial officer under subsection (1) commits an offence.Maximum penalty—

if the order is made by a magistrate—2 years imprisonment; or

if the order is made by a judge—5 years imprisonment.

This section is in addition to and not in substitution for the Child Protection Act 1999, sections 192 and 193 and the Youth Justice Act 1992.

In this section—presiding judicial officer, for a proceeding, means—

the magistrate hearing and deciding the matter summarily or conducting the examination of witnesses; or

the judge presiding over the court to which a person has been committed for trial or sentence.