A place to come to get up-to-date legal news in one place that is easy and accessible.

Sunday 8 January 2012

Still no to cameras but a yes to tweeting

Britains highest judge has announced reporters can now use live, text based sources of communications straight from the court room. Providing the first real-time accounts of court room action and making a move towards open justice and increased accessibility for the public. 
The Lord Chief Justice has decided reporters can now use tweeting amongst other live, text based sources (including tablets, blogs and email) to report live from the court room. First used in December 2010 during the extradition case against WikiLeaks founder, interim guidelines followed, under which to use these sources, reporters had to make an application to the individual judge in each case. 
A review has followed this month in which the Lord Chief Justice reported the use of tweeting in the WikiLeaks case posed no harm to justice. Changes now mean reporters don’t need to ask permission from the judge in order to use these sources. However it has been made clear that the judge still retains the right to stop this if it interferes with the courts administration of justice and the rules of contempt of court (Contempt of Court Act 1981) still apply. The result of the review was explained by the judge as ‘enabling the media to produce fair and accurate reports of [court] proceedings’. 
It still remains that members of the public must seek permission from the judge. This change does however show the court adapting to changing media formats and promoting new ways for the public to gain information. 

No comments:

Post a Comment