Media Law lecture -- Court Reporting cont'd

Questions from last week:

• Section 39 order — to surpress publication about details of a youth. Automatic ban in Youth Court.
• PACE — Police And Criminal Evidence Act; fundamental piece of legislation concerning police powers. How suspects, evidence, etc. should be approached, how police can require media organizations to disclose material to be used as evidence.
• Redaction — to remove parts of a document, whether for privacy, national security, etc.
• Watershed — the time during which it’s assumed children no longer watch and more adult material can be shown. 9 pm and 5:30 am
• Newton hearing — a trial where a judge tries to ascertain which party is telling the truth.

For next week:

• What is a §4.2 order?
• What is a §11 order?
• What is a §46 order of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence?
• What is the spy catcher principle?
• Look at the definition of public interested in the PCC editor code and Ofcom Code of Practice

Juries

• Ban under §8 preventing soliciting, publishing or broadcasting the deliberations of a jury, even after a trial has finished.

  • Cannot ask a juror why they made their decision.
  • Anything said in a jury room remains under wraps.
• Juries instructed to listen to the evidence as presented and not sleuth around the on Internet

• Case of a juror talking to a defendant via Facebook

  • Got 8 months for contempt of court

• Since Sept. 2010, judges can allow tweeting in court

  • Can tweet in court, but have to get permission of judge via judge’s clerk
  • Must fairly and accurately report; viewed as a form of notation and with same contempt of court issues.

• Open justice principle

  • Justice must be seen to be done, instead of simply being done.
• R v.Felixstowe Justices (1987) — decided press are the eyes of the public and needs to be present in court.

• Scott v. Scott (1913) — starting point of open justice

  • Divorce case, woman had disclosed what had went on in the private proceedings.
  • Press argued proceedings were not private. “Publicity is the very soul of justice.”

• In re S (a child) (2004)

  • Mother charged with murder of child via salt poisoning
  • Other child placed in care; application made on behalf to stop reporting of case.
  • Lord Bingham: “A criminal trial is a public event … full contemporaneous reporting of criminal trials promotes…” public confidence in the courts system
  • Even though reporting may case embarrassment to parties, is secondary to courts remaining open. Natural consequence to trial process.

Reporting restrictions

• §4(2) order

  • court may order publication of proceedings may be postponed to avoid a substantial risk of prejudice.

    • Staggered trial
    • R v Barot (2006) — 4(2) should not be given out lightly.

• §11 order

  • can prohibit naming witnesses where necessary

    • Blackmail; police informants
    • Unlike §4(2), doesn’t end at close of proceedings
    • Doesn’t happen very often
    • R v Croydon Crown Court (2007)

• §46 order

  • vulnerable witnesses
  • Youth witnesses et al

• Challenging Court Orders

  • Have to be challenged in the proper way

• Excluding press from court

  • Cases involving national security, family court cases

• The Spycatcher Principle

  • If there’s an order against a single news organization, it applies to all. If you’re aware of it, it applies to you.

• Payments to witnesses

  • Will be dealt with via Ofcom and PCC codes.
  • Payment, if made (and must be in the public interest), must be reported to the prosecution.

• Payments to criminals

  • Tony Martin

    • Shot burglar while defending house, eventually public outcry resulted in charge being lowered to manslaughter.

      • Daily Mail paid for interview, PCC sided with them because it was in public interest, would not speak without payment, newspaper put info in context

• Revisiting crimes

  • Not allowed to glorify gangland killings, etc.
  • Sensitivity to those that survived.

• Filming criminal behaviour

  • No encouraging people to, say, light up a joint
  • Don’t give out “recipes” to commit crime.

• CPS Protocol

  • Information is generally given out the day it’s shown