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Should celebrities get name suppression?

By MSN NZ staff
Thursday, November 19, 2009
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Justice Minister Simon Power wants to see famous people receive the same treatment as everyone else when in court.

Mr Power told the New Zealand Herald a halt should be placed on the emerging "special class" of high-profile people who use their status to attain name suppression.

Read more: Power seeks hard line on court secrecy for celebs

He was responding to a Law Commission report released earlier this week which said well-known people should still be able to argue for suppression if publication would cause "extreme hardship".

Mr Power believes no special rights should be allowed.

"Anybody who makes an application for name suppression should be dealt with on the same grounds, regardless of whether they think they are well known," he said.

"Whether or not somebody believes they are well known, it should not be a ground in itself for name suppression being granted."

The Law Commission's report places onus for the decision to be left to the judge’s discretion.

This month a "prominent entertainer" who forced a teenage girl's face into his genitals was granted permanent suppression to avoid a detrimental effect on his career, including record and ticket sales.

Other cases of "celebrity justice" include the 2005 controversy when an All Black was granted permanent name secrecy despite having pleaded guilty to assaulting his pregnant partner.

Should celebrities be treated like any other criminal in court? Or is that unfair because there is so much more media interest when court cases involve famous people? Have your say below.

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User comments
No way.....they should be treated as anyone normal person. A crime is a crime, no matter who committed it.
no way should celebs get name supression. we cant. what makes them so special, just because they have been on tv once or twice or in a movie. geeez if it wasnt for US, THEY wouldnt even be celebrities. dif sorta subject, the rugby players.. their bigger celebs than heeaps of movie people.. they go through hell...with chicks wanting money-so they sa they got sexually harrassed, they dont get name supresh. and ..yeh, they dont deserve it either though. ha. while we are on the topic. why do government people get away with so much?
one question - Whats the difference between celebrity and non-celebrity.?? oh thats right, we dont have money to pay for the rights not to have our photos or names suppressed without arguing for it. hello we are all civillians. no matter what. we all pay taxes for our rights. we all have our say and votes. so why on Earth would celebrity get name suppression. its ridiculous that they get name suppression yet when a civillian with no money commits a crime, they are first on headlines. so no way i agree to celebrity name suppressions. too bad, commit the crime, pay the price like normal civillians. so im with Justince Minister with 110%. good on you for even suggesting this. so hopefully they will have a look into this, pass it as quickly as they passed the Anti-Smacking law.
it's amazing how there is one rule for some and not for others. if they do the crime, they should do the time like everyone else. the ordinary humanoid would have their name plastered all over the front pages of the newspaper and televison plus, depending on the severity of the crime, get hassled wherever they go. it's a reminder of their affrontage to humanity. under all that makeup and high end clothing, celebrities are just the same as everyone else so, like everyone else, make them just as answerable by plastering their names all over television and the papers and see how they like that kind of publicity.
Yes they should. I would be named if I did anything wrong and celebs are very highly paid, well most of them so they should be setting standards to their fans. I don't know why they expect to be treated better. The sport they play should name them to tell others that they won't tolerate this sort of carry on. START NAMING THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The bigger they are the harder they fall. If they are prepared to take all the perks and money that come with being famous then they should realise people will come down *** them when they f*** up. You'd think they might behave a bit better than the avarage person on the street, because of this. But no, they want to have their cake and eat it too.
I'm sorry, but if you are a public figure, then you have to behave like one. YOU chose to be in the public eye, YOU chose to have a higher status, and YOU have an obligation to obey the law just like everyone else!!!! Why should they get special treatment?? Like that person who gets name suppression even they though downloaded child pornography, because apparently "none of the children were NZ'ers". ***???? How would they know?!??? And why does that make it OK??? The fact they did such a disgusting act in the first place means they should face up to it and public scrutiny!! If they're hiding it, they know it's wrong - so let them face the punishment full on!
just because they earn more money than me dosn't make them special they don't deserve to get any more or less then the average joe does, but how about new zealand stops publicizing them so much when they do something wrong, so what chris brown smacked rihanna yes we all no it was wrong but it didnt have to be in every paper and every news show for 3 weeks, what makes her more special than the kiwi mum who gets beaten buy her husband every-night!!! we dont see that on the news and in the paper for a month! i say equal writes and publicity for those who earn $1.00 a day to those who earn billions a day. where all human so treat us equally as humans!!
i totally aggree, he is a coward and the public has a right to know who and what the crime was he shouldnt be able to get away with hiding his identity and i agree with cameron slater in naming them all.. good on him for doign what the cops and justice system obviously are to afraid of doing.
No, all for one, one for all law. It needs to be across the board no matter what the consequences are. If they are able to commit a crime then, the truth should prevail. If the law allows name suppression due to the persons reputation in society, then, all people who commit crimes should be allowed name suppression? This is the type of message courts are sending out to society.

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