Below is Order 2 made 21 July as per the Court Orders of Justice Davies that apply to the Interlocutory Hearing listed for 9.30am this Tuesday, 28 July. People will no doubt familiarize themselves with it before taking to the keyboard. Orders 6 and 7 are self-explanatory - no recording and keep the mic off otherwise you may be held in contempt.
'Nothing in these orders shall prevent any person, based on what he or she has seen or heard during the hearing, making his or her own notes or written record of the proceeding, or publishing a fair report of the proceeding.'
Obviously, it has to be a fair report for starters and not some jaundiced view no matter how good or bad things are. Just a couple of quick things. You'll see that Order 2 is written with instructions to the first person, i.e. re-phrasing it: 'a fair report based on what you have seen or heard'. In other words, just be careful if you're not seeing or hearing it personally and you decide to comment based on what somebody else has reported. In those circumstances, it won't be based on what you've seen or heard, it will be based on somebody else's observations. Further, it may not be a fair report. In addition, it is a little unclear as to whether a contemporaneous commentary is permitted. That is, does 'publishing a fair report of the proceeding' mean something done after the conclusion of the hearing or does it also include whilst the hearing is in progress. It doesn't appear to be expressly prohibited on the face of it but it's unusual waters being traversed during Covid times and in the ordinary course there would be no audio-visual link for something like this.
I suspect the Orders are such so that people think twice before they vent their spleen on HC as the hearing unfolds and afterwards.
Cheers and all the best.
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