Sports and the Law - Restraining the Paparazzi

Legislation

Numerous state and federal acts and regulations such as Part 5 of the NSW Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007.

Case History

Wayne is an internationally known Australian fast spin bowler. As a celebrity he is a typical target for freelance photographers out to make profit from capturing his image in whatever attitude at any time and any place. Sadly his family is often caught in the thick of it. Although it must be nice to be famous, it must be equally exhausting to have photographers lurking around every street corner, up every tree and...yes...hiding inside garbage bins as well. Images of Agent 13 in the Get Smart television series readily spring to mind. It would be funny if it wasn’t all too real. After years of unbelievable tolerance, Wayne has finally approached the Police for help in keeping at bay one of Australia’s most aggressive paparazzi, let’s just call him Jim (I’m sure every celebrity in Australia knows him and probably half the world). In defence, Jim has said: “I don’t badger celebs. 95% of times they don’t even know I’m there. Well Jim I guess they soon work it out once they see themselves, their families and their “friends” smeared all over the front page of those cheap tabloids.

What do the words “stalking” and “intimidation” mean?

Various definitions exist. The NSW Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act defines stalking as the following of a person about or the watching or frequenting of the vicinity of or an approach to a person’s place of residence, business or work or any place that a person frequents for the purposes of any social or leisure activity. Intimidation is somewhat harder to establish The NSW Act defines it to be conduct amounting to harassment or molestation by any means that causes a person to fear for his/her own safety.

Is there an action maintainable for harassment by the paparazzi?

The only legitimate recourse is to take court action. This is most commonly achieved by utilising the Apprehended Personal Violence legislation of the various states and territories. This is in the manner of a civil rather than criminal action and requires the civil standard of proof on the balance of probabilities. Wayne has found some support in this type of action through the intervention by the Police. The Police are always a good first option, because they carry weight, their prosecutors are expert at securing a positive result and let’s face it, in such matters, they know their stuff. The only draw-back with the Police is their natural reluctance to stumble into what is arguably a civil type of complaint. This is particularly so when a member of the paparazzi has shown no malice or threatened violence in any way. There is a natural tendency in most circles to allow the “press” some freedom in the name of public interest. If the Police take a “hands off”approach it is time to consult a competent legal practitioner who won’t be so moved by public sentiment.

Private applications for restraining orders are run in a very similar way to police applications. We need to have the courts grant a private applicant an intermin order in the early days of the case. Generally the private lawyer needs to work harder when it comes to the interim application. A private lawyer can also, where there has been an assault, lay a private information for common assault under the Crimes Act of some jurisdictions in which those actions are not restricted to the police. Once orders are made, any breach of those orders may be reviewed by the criminal courts. Penalties for such breaches can be very serious and may involve gaol terms.

How can we help you?

For a start we can assure you that at LAC our goal is to achieve the best possible result for our clients. We owe no duty to public interest policies. We have solicitors on staff who have a long association as advocates in both civil and criminal courts. We can quickly attend to preparing and filing in Court, the application papers necessary to initiate action for restraining orders. We can appear personally, or brief barristers to appear in Court at hearings or interlocutory applications. Once orders are made we can assist in the review of compliance with such orders and bringing any apparent breaches to the attention of the police or the Courts.