HMG Your Freedom: Abolish the ban on recording court proceedings
Wednesday, 28 July 2010, 15:09
Alistair Kelman: "Currently under Section 9 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 it is illegal to tape record court proceedings. This topic was addressed by Ms Heather Brooke in a feature article in today's Times newspaper where she makes out the case very eloquently. As a barrister and expert witness I too have encountered similar problems in the UK courts and believe that no is the time for this Government to abolish the ban."
BBC: The Editors: Baby Peter and anonymity
Tuesday, 11 August 2009, 22:03
Steve Herrmann: "On this occasion, there were indeed two stories in our own archive relating to the very early stages of the Baby Peter case which, if you searched for them, did give the names of the defendants. We did not republish or link to them from new stories, but on this occasion plenty of other people chose to do so. … We removed the stories from our archive even though in practice the details were easy to find, and the information had already been reproduced and cached elsewhere on the internet. Now that the restrictions have been lifted we've reinstated the stories in the archive. Not, incidentally, a very practical or easy way of doing things if we had to do it very often."
Times Online: Law should be changed to increase transparency of juries
Saturday, 23 May 2009, 12:04
Professor Gary Slapper: "In so far as Section 8 of the Contempt of Court 1981 prevents research on how juries work, it is an anachronistic law and should be reformed urgently."
Headlines and Deadlines: Reporting live from the court press bench
Wednesday, 1 April 2009, 22:36
Following the Palm Beach Post's efforts to live-Tweet a court case, Alison Gow looks at how this would – or rather wouldn't work in the current UK context: "the laws governing court reporting in the UK needs a pretty serious overhaul."
Currybetdotnet: Press silence on Alfie Patten DNA test result broken by Google News
Friday, 27 March 2009, 12:25
"Yesterday, The Mirror was reporting a further development in the story of the 13 year old boy named as a father. … The Mirror has pulled the story from their site. It is an interesting test case of whether legal deletions should also cover SEO-orientated keyword stuffed URLs. They might have pulled the story, but I can still read the headline on the resulting 404 page."
New York Times: As Jurors Turn to Web, Mistrials Are Popping Up
Saturday, 21 March 2009, 14:47
"The use of BlackBerrys and iPhones by jurors gathering and sending out information about cases is wreaking havoc on trials around the country, upending deliberations and infuriating judges. … Judges have long amended their habitual warning about seeking outside information during trials to include Internet searches. But with the Internet now as close as a juror’s pocket, the risk has grown more immediate — and instinctual."
Press Gazette: April a big month for journalists’ court access
Thursday, 12 February 2009, 22:30
"by April, a secure online system that allows reporters to check crown court restrictions should be up and running. The database will include magistrates' court restrictions later in the year."
Journalism.co.uk: Reporting restrictions in Baby P case make public think press is covering up, says Society of Editors head
Friday, 5 December 2008, 12:59
Bob Satchwell of the Society of Editors on how reporting restrictions effect on journalism is perceived by readers: "What is happening inadvertently, because of the internet, is that some people are suggesting that the media is conniving with the courts to suppress information which they feel they are entitled to know."
Currybetdotnet: Protecting the identity of Baby P’s killers: The courts vs the people vs the Internet
Tuesday, 18 November 2008, 12:35
Martin Belam: "Trying to stick to the terms of the court order preserving the anonymity of 'Baby P''s killers has been very testing for a lot of sites online. … cache on Monday afternoon still contained a BBC News report from late last year that not only named those charged with the death of 'Baby P', but also the toddlers proper name, and, incredibly, their street addresses. … A Telegraph report initially from around the same time could also be located in Google…"
Journalism.co.uk Editors’ Blog: Naming Baby P is not about giving in to a Facebook campaign
Tuesday, 18 November 2008, 12:33
"Naming Baby P and his mother is not about giving in to a hysterical Facebook campaign group; this is about confronting the reality of the online age."
Independent: Facebook vigilantes identify mother of Baby P
Tuesday, 18 November 2008, 12:31
"The identity of the 27-year-old mother of Baby P was last night being circulated on the internet with the names of her boyfriend and the third man convicted of causing the child's death, after online vigilantes began a campaign calling for violent retribution against them. An order issued by the judge who oversaw the trial of the woman and her boyfriend forbids details about them…"
Sarah Hartley: Four legal dangers of links in articles and blogs
Sunday, 12 October 2008, 08:49
Sarah Hartley lists some potential legal risks for UK newspapers that include links to external sites – or even their own archive – in their copy…
BBC: Radio 4: iPM: Online court records and prejudice.
Tuesday, 23 September 2008, 23:34
"one of the prejudicial things one might read in such online archives would be details of the accused previous convictions. Which brings us back to Jack Straw's proposal to reveal online, 'what happened when someone appears in the dock'. Would these records similarly present a risk of prejudice?"
Editor & Publisher: Bill Proposed to Extend N.Y. Shield Law to Bloggers
Sunday, 17 August 2008, 08:12
New York state Sen. Thomas Duane has "proposed legislation that would protect bloggers from contempt-of-court charges for refusing to disclose confidential information or sources."
