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