Now that Dr Jayant Patel is back in Australia, he has been charged and has faced court, there will be an ongoing and significant amount of media attention given to his case.

It will be interesting to gauge the level of media attention in the wake of the Dennis Ferguson case given the media attention contributed to the determination that he would not get a fair trial.

The convicted pedophile was facing allegations he sexually assaulted a young girl in 2005 but the case was dismissed by a judge after Ferguson's barrister told the Court of Appeal it was “disingenuous” to expect potential jurors to ignore pre-trial publicity surrounding the case and to return a fair verdict.

The permanent stay of proceedings on the charges ordered by the judge was appealed last week.The Court of Appeal has reserved its decision.

I suspect the media will be more reserved about the nature of their publications.

Dr Patel, who is facing 14 charges including manslaughter, grievous bodily harm and fraud, relating to his time at Bundaberg Base Hospital between 2003 and 2005, is entitled to the presumption of innocence and a fair trial like everyone else who is tried in Australia.

Those rights are fundamental to our system of Justice.

How do you balance the competing public interest and the rights of Dr Patel?

I think the trials of this nature should be televised. Those with an personal interest in the case would be able to watch the trial as would all other members of the public. The public would not be so dependent on media reports about the trial and the media would be less likely to come under fire for reports that are not balanced.

The courtroom is a public place and therefore there are no secrets about what goes on.