QLD: Judge says newspaper mixup left him hurt and angry

AAP General News (Australia)
04-27-1999
QLD: Judge says newspaper mixup left him hurt and angry

By Suzanne Klotz

BRISBANE, April 27 AAP - A District Court judge felt "hurt and angry" when he read a
newspaper article which allegedly attributed "stupid" and "unjudicial" comments about child
witnesses to him, the Brisbane Supreme Court was told today.

Southport District Court Judge Robert David Hall is suing Queensland Newspapers for
defamation over the article published in The Courier Mail on May 26, 1997.

The article refers to Judge Clive Hall, QC, and thereafter to Judge Hall, when reporting on
comments delivered following a criminal trial of a child molester in Townsville, far north
Queensland.

The Courier Mail admits the judge who made the comments, and was meant to be referred to,
was Townsville District Court Judge Clive Wall, QC.

The newspaper published a clarification stating that fact two days later on May 28, 1997.

Judge Hall, giving evidence today at the opening of the trial, told the four-person civil
jury today that the comments attributed to "Judge Hall" did not coincide with his views.

"I fairly quickly realised it should have been a reference to Clive Wall," Judge Hall said
on reading the article.

"I was very hurt and angered. It clearly indicated ... I was not only unjudicial in my
views, I was stupid."

He said he had been very "bad tempered" the whole week after reading the article and
suffered from "some sort of depression" as a consequence.

"I was reluctant to go back into court and felt nervous coming down the corridor into
court. It's not something I've experienced before."

Judge Hall said the feelings only lasted a week, disappearing after he decided to sue the
paper.

The article referred to 'Judge Clive Hall' attacking the credibility of child witnesses and
saying he would ban video evidence.

"Children are a very risky business," the judge in the article was quoted as saying.

"They can't be put in an ivory tower.

"They can't always be in a privileged position."

The article quoted the then Queensland Children's Commissioner Norm Alford as describing
the comments as "outdated, narrow minded and misguided" and "discriminatory towards children".

It also referred to comments from Federal Human Rights Commission chairman Chris Sidoti,
who blasted Queensland courts' "shocking rate" of mistreating children as witnesses.

Judge Hall told the jury that even as a criminal barrister practising in Rockhampton
defending accused facing child sex charges, he had been very concerned about the potential
emotional trauma caused to child complainants during cross-examination.

He said he had always supported the introduction of video evidence from children.

"I was struck first by the suggestion that the whole matter could be prejudged -- that this
sort of (videotaped) evidence should not be allowed," Judge Hall said on the issue of a video
ban.

"It is a very unjudicial way to operate. It shows a bias, and a fairly bad bias."

Judge Hall said he had asked the newspaper for an apology and believed the clarification
published two days later had just "aggravated the problem".

Judge Hall is one of Queensland's most senior judges, having been appointed to the District
Court in 1983 in Townsville and transferred to Southport in 1989.

Judge Wall was appointed to the Townsville District Court six months prior to the article
being written.

The trial is continuing before Justice Richard Chesterman and is expected to last two days.

AAP smk/jnb/de

KEYWORD: HALL

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