The Judiciary will change its policy of keeping the personal details of defendants in criminal trials confidential if advised to do so by the Privacy Commissioner.
Judiciary administrator Alice Tai Yuen-ying said yesterday the decision was originally taken because 'we think defendants are entitled to their privacy too'.
Last month a decision was taken to enforce a longstanding policy of restricting access to charge sheets in courts. The sheets list names, addresses, ID card numbers and full details of charges faced by defendants.
Although not the reason for the policy, Ms Tai said reporters sometimes used the information to visit the homes of defendants and interview their neighbours. She also said ID card numbers could be misused by fraudsters.
But the administrator added: 'If the Privacy Commissioner says, 'You release what you like,' then we were wrong in trying to protect the accused person's privacy.
'We would then do what the commissioner advises us to do.