Prime Minister John Key did not respond to questions about whether he would stand down his Cabinet minister.

A Cabinet minister's brother is due to appear in court this week on child indecency charges.

The man has been summonsed to appear in the District Court on Tuesday — but the man's lawyer, high-powered Queen's Counsel Jonathan Eaton, last night went to the High Court in Christchurch to obtain an injunction stopping the Sunday Star-Times naming the man or the minister concerned.

The minister did not respond yesterday to questions about whether he would stand down while the case was before the court.

Prime Minister John Key, who was at the National Party regional conference in Waitangi, also failed to respond to questions about whether he would stand the minister down from Cabinet.

Earlier this year, Labour spokeswoman Carmel Sepuloni stepped aside while her mother was before the courts on benefit fraud charges.

A family member of the sex accused said the matter was in the hands of defence lawyers.

Yesterday, the accused man's solicitor John Westgate said it would be "entirely inappropriate" to name the man, as it would undermine his ability to apply for name suppression.

The paper gave an assurance that it would not identify the man before he appeared in court – at which point the lawyer threatened an injunction if the Cabinet minister was named.

Westgate said he could understand the public interest. "Oh look, fascinating . . . but you can also appreciate that when somebody in that situation is facing charges, they have the right to avail themselves of what the legislation allows."

Westgate would not comment on whether his client would be defending the charges.

Last night, High Court Justice David Gendall imposed an interim injunction preventing the newspaper naming the accused and the Cabinet minister.

The Sunday Star-Times asked to be heard by the Court but the judge granted the injunction without giving the newspaper's lawyer that opportunity.

The accused man works as a community leader. It is unclear if he has been stood down from that role. His boss refused to comment.

There is a precedent for politicians being stood down when their relatives get into trouble with the law.

Earlier this year Carmel Sepuloni was stood down from her social development spokeswoman role after her mother was charged with several counts of benefit fraud.

She was reinstated after Beverley Anne Sepuloni was sentenced to home detention, community work and ordered to pay $15,000 reparation by Judge Chris Sygrove in the New Plymouth District Court.