The Federal Court of Australia has declined to release details about a meeting at which judges voted to reduce access to legal documents. 

In January, reporters made a Freedom of Information (FOI) request for all information about changes to the rules. Last week, the Federal Court's FOI officer rejected the request.

The officer said the right to access documents under the FOI Act did not extend to documents held by judicial officers.

The court made changes to its internal rules in December to restrict access to documents such as originating applications until after a case appears in court.

Journalists and editors have argued that the changes are a “full-frontal assault on the principle of open justice”, and could keep crucial information about court cases secret for months longer than necessary.

Because applications to access documents will now be notified to parties, an extra layer of legal administration has been added, which could further extend the time documents are kept secret.

“Once the relevant documents which initiated the proceeding have been served on the respondent or respondents, the parties have had a reasonable opportunity to file an application seeking a suppression or non-publication order, and if no party has filed such an application, then, in the ordinary course of events, a Registrar will grant leave for the inspection of the documents pursuant to the Request,” Chief Justice James Allsop wrote in a recent practice note.

The Federal Court is remaining tight-lipped about the new process, refusing to answer questions on how long it would take, or what is meant by “reasonable opportunity”.