- 10
A
B
-
The Judge next noted that the test for an injunction in aid of
13.
the criminal law is one of necessity or utility.
It must be shown that absent
A
B
the injunction the Defendant’s illegal conduct could not be effectively
C
D
restrained.
The court must consider (1) whether it would actually provide
greater deterrence than what the criminal law already imposed; and (2) the
ease of enforcement against the law-breakers.11
E
F
C
D
With that in mind, the
Judge compared the severity of criminal penalties and sanctions for
contempt, querying if the targeted act was only lightly penalised under
E
F
criminal law, it might seem wrong for the civil court to grant injunctions
G
H
breaches of which might attract unlimited sanctions, thus doing what the
legislature had not done; and if the criminal sanction was far more severe
G
H
than what could be expected in contempt proceedings, like those imposed
I
J
K
by NSL 21, whether there was any utility in granting the injunction and
whether it was correct as a matter of principle for the court to pass
judgment on what was effectively a serious criminal offence, without the
procedural safeguards of the criminal justice system. 12
L
M
N
O
I
J
K
L
After careful consideration, the Judge was unable to see how
14.
an injunction could assist the enforcement of the criminal law.
He
accepted that whether the 4 Acts endanger national security would best be
left to the executive who might assess the risks with sensitive intelligence
M
N
O
not available to the court. However, on the utility of the injunction, the
P
Q
court was in a proper position to make a judgment on it based on the
evidence.
After referring to the Secretary’s case on utility, the Judge
P
Q
observed that the evidence contained little in terms of how the injunction
R
S
T
would reduce the prevalence of the Song; that it was unlikely for
entrenched offenders to be deterred by an additional injunction; 13 and that
11
12
U
V
13
R
S
T
Decision, [51].
Decision, [52].
Decision, [57].
U
V