In a very able judgment Lord Shaw emphasized the dangers
involved in the unwarranted encroachment of the courts on the rights safety and freedom of citizens by violating the principle of the open administration of justice. It was in accordance neither with the position of the old Ecclesiastical Courts nor the provisions of the Act of 1857. The case in question did not fall within any of the exceptions to the rule prescribing publicity, viz., suits affecting wards, lunacy pro- ceedings, and cases where secrecy was of the essence of the cause. It further attempted to enforce an injunction of perpetual silence for which there was no legal sanction. Lord Shaw not only maintained that the judge had acted ultra vires but expressed great satisfaction that the law was what he (Lord Shaw) had stated it to be. Otherwise an easy way would be open for judges to remove their proceedings from the light and to silence for ever the voice of the critic and hide the knowledge of the truth. Such an impairment of right would be intolerable in a free country, and he did not think it had any warrant in our law.
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