Victoria’s director of public prosecutions makes application to prevent any potential risk of prejudice during proceedings

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Media may be barred from reporting any of the details of an upcoming trial being faced by Australia’s most senior Catholic, Cardinal George Pell, if a judge approves a comprehensive suppression order put forward by prosecutors.

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Pell’s case returns to the Victorian county court on Wednesday when Chief Judge Peter Kidd will consider the suppression order application submitted by the state’s director of public prosecutions. Pell was ordered to stand trial last month following a committal hearing that ran for almost four weeks. Pell, 76, has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The application calls on the judge to prohibit any publications about the trial until after the completion of the proceedings.

Prosecutors want the order to apply to publications in all Australian states and territories, including any website or broadcast format accessible within Australia.

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In the application, the director of public prosecutions wrote the order is necessary to prevent a real and substantial risk of prejudice to the proper administration of justice. This risk could not be prevented by other reasonably available means, the application says.

His case returns to the court on Wednesday morning for a directions hearing before the chief judge.