After Cardinal Pell verdict, Australian journalists may face jail

During Pell's trial, members of the public could watch proceedings in open court, and attended the handing down of the verdict. But as they walked into court, there was a copy of the suppression rules on the door of the court.

"Obviously there can be tension between the principle of open justice, which is what we have, and the principle of a fair trial," said Kerry O'Shea, public affairs manager at the Law Institute of Victoria.

"The actual trial is proceeding in open court, it's just that the proceedings themselves cannot be reported by the media," she said.

The order in the Pell trial was very broad, preventing reporting of any detail of the first trial, including its existence, until the verdict in the second was known. The order was requested by the prosecution, and supported by the defence.

"I think that's actually a misconception in the community that there has been this order that's been granted to protect Pell in some way, but in fact that's not what's happened," said Jason Bosland, deputy director of the Centre for Media and Communications Law at the University of Melbourne.

As well as aiming to ensure a fair trial, suppression orders can be issued for reasons such as national security, to protect a particular victim or witness, or specific parts of evidence presented in a case.

Bosland said Victoria's use of suppression orders was high compared to other Australian states, possibly because of trials related to Melbourne's long-running 'gangland war', which has seen multiple, inter-related trials drawing on the same evidence or other connections. ($1=1.3957 Australian dollars)