Chief Justice Richard Ground has ruled that the media should not be gagged from reporting further revelations from a leaked Police dossier on the Bermuda Housing Corporation scandal.

Making his ruling this morning, Mr. Justice Ground said that having weighed up the balance between the media's constitutional right to inform the public about “serious allegations concerning important public figures” and the need to protect the confidentiality of the Police investigation, the balance “comes down firmly” against restraining the media.

However, he granted an application from the plaintiffs for his judgement to be appealed tomorrow morning in the Court of Appeal. In the interim period, Bermuda's broadcasting organisations and the Bermuda Sun have been ordered by the Chief Justice not to report any further revelations from the dossier. The Mid-Ocean News and The Royal Gazette have agreed to extend a previous undertaking made not to publish further material until the legal proceedings are resolved.

Police Commissioner George Jackson and Attorney General Philip Perinchief launched Supreme Court action after ZBM and the Mid-Ocean news published extracts of the documents.

Their lawyer, Delroy Duncan, argued in court last week that the dossier was stolen and therefore a breach of confidence was committed when the news reports were aired and published.

He said the court action was launched because the Police fear further disclosure of “sensitive” material from the documents – although the nature of the un-reported sections of the file was not revealed in court.

Mr. Justice Ground also heard that the whereabouts of the original documents is unknown, although copies have been recovered. Two arrests have been made by Police investigating how the media obtained the file.

The leaked dossier reportedly revealed that Premier Ewart Brown, former Premier Jennifer Smith and former Ministers Renee Webb and Arthur Hodgson were all investigated by Police looking into the BHC allegations.

Construction boss Zane DeSilva was another prominent person investigated as part of the probe into allegations of corruption at the BHC, the documents reportedly showed.

When the investigation finished in 2004, then acting Director of Public Prosecutions Kulandra Ratneser said many of those investigated could only be accused of bad ethics. Mr. Ratneser also said some of the people investigated escaped prosecution due to Bermuda's antiquated corruption laws.

Since the BHC scandal – which is believed to have cost the taxpayer $8 million – one person has been convicted. Terrence Smith, a BHC officer, was found guilty and jailed last year on 41 counts of fraud.

Mr. Duncan argued that the media should be gagged from publishing further information from the dossier not already in the public domain as it could undermine public confidence in the Police. He further argued that those figures put in the spotlight by the media reports have not had chance to respond to comments made about them in the Police file, it is alleged that at least two of the defendants have handled stolen goods in receiving the documents, and publication cannot be justified with the reason that it is in the public interest.

Saul Froomkin QC, acting for the publishers of this newspaper and its sister paper the Mid-Ocean News, said there is no evidence the report was stolen, and that even if the file was confidential the public have a right to know its contents under the Bermuda Constitution which protects freedom of expression.

“There is confidential information which the public may have a right to receive and others, in particular the press, may have a right and even a duty to publish even if the information has been unlawfully obtained in flagrant breach of confidence and irrespective of the motive of the informer” he said last week.

In addition to Bermuda Press Holdings, the Bermuda Broadcasting Company, Defontes Broadcasting and the Bermuda Sun were also named as defendants in the court case and contested the injunction.

See full story and reaction in tomorrow's Royal Gazette.