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Derryn Hinch takes on High Court
The TressCox lawyer behind radio personality Derryn Hinch's application to have his contempt charges for naming serious sex offenders heard before the High Court claims the case will raise…
Lawyers Weekly
The TressCox lawyer behind radio personality Derryn Hinch's application to have his contempt charges for naming serious sex offenders heard before the High Court claims the case will raise constitutional issues.
Nicholas Pullen, a partner at TressCox Lawyers, is leading the team representing Hinch and listed some of the constitutional issues they plan to raise.
Pullen said Hinch's real contention in relation to this is that the act "protects the worst of the worst, when it comes to sexual offenders - repeat serial pedophile offenders ... the ones who are most likely to reoffend are protected."
If you're a, so to speak, run of the mill pedophile, or any other criminal for that matter, it [the act] doesn't apply," Pullen continued.
A major premise of Hinch's case is that the community's right to know who they are living next to must be considered in these instances.
According to Pullen, Hinch's case seeks to challenge the act based on various constitutional issues, claiming that it provides for unequal treatment and protection of convicted serious sexual offenders, that it's contrary to the Constitution's implied freedom of speech and that it subverts the common law doctrine of open courts.
Whether Hinch's case will be heard by the High Court depends on the states' attorneys-general, who have 14 days to respond and indicate whether they will intervene.
- Briana Everett
