Anne Hunt - Book Dispute

The Dominion Post
May 16 2007

Solicitor-general in book dispute

Solicitor-General David Collins, QC, has been pitched back into a court case over a controversial book detailing a woman's battles with a senior health professional she accused of sex abuse.

It was revealed in the Court of Appeal yesterday that court president William Young had directed Dr Collins -- who now heads the Crown Law Office -- to file an affidavit in response to author Anne Hunt's latest affidavit on the case.

In the event, Justice Susan Glazebrook, heading the three-member court -- that does not include Justice Young -- said it would consider only small parts of the affidavits. Justice Glazebrook said in many respects Dr Collins and Mrs Hunt agreed about what happened, but disagreed on what basis he was involved, and what she understood from what took place.

Dr Collins, who at the time represented the woman making the sex abuse allegations, was not present or represented at yesterday's hearing.

Mrs Hunt, a Foxton Beach author, is appealing against a High Court judge's decision that she breached the confidential settlement of a civil case against the health professional, and ordered that she pay $15,000.

She was fined $1000 for contempt of court in having published the contents of court documents not obtained under rules covering a search of court records. About 650 unsold copies of her book were ordered to be destroyed. More than 300 copies were sold after it was published in 2003.

The health professional's name is suppressed, as is the name of the book. Mrs Hunt's lawyer, Steven Price, had wanted the book named. He said too much in the case had been suppressed already, including the mere existence of the proceedings for many months.

The health professional's lawyer, Hugh Rennie, QC, said the man had never been found to have done anything wrong. He was now aged in his 70s, and wanted peace in his retirement.

The evidence was that Dr Collins put Mrs Hunt in contact with the woman who made the complaints. In August 2001 the woman gave Mrs Hunt authority to publish anything Dr Collins deemed appropriate, but Dr Collins never did deem it appropriate, and the woman asked Mrs Hunt not to publish, Mr Rennie said.

Mr Price said the High Court judge had wrongly excluded evidence about Dr Collins' involvement, on which she based her belief that the manuscript was safe to publish.

He said the court could not control access to court-sourced documents in the control of a third party.