An English High Court ruling continues to block new court files disclosure rules until a full judicial review can be argued on November 2. (See CaseLoad story October 5)

A controversial interpretation of the new rules by the Courts Service would have meant documents such as pleadings and defences would have been available to the public and the media from October 2.

Disclosure would mean fresh fields for media to trawl for juicy details of celebrity cases, many of which would have been settled confidentially before reaching court.

The Law Society won a last minute ex parte injunction late last Friday afternoon (September 29) to block the new rules coming in.

On October 5 Mr Justice Keith maintained the interim injunction until a full judicial review.

Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson said the decision protected the privacy of many people in old disputes including employment, blackmail and discrimination cases.

TheLawyer.com quoted Mr Hudson saying many cases were settled before reaching court with people filing statements on the understanding they would remain confidential.

Global media organizations, led by The Times’ head of litigation Gill Philips and leading media law specialist Andrew Caldecott QC, lobbied to lift the ban on the retrospective application of the new rules.

More information in www.caseload.co.nz as this case proceeds.