whats the future for contempt of court?
03/09/2008 By: journalism.co.uk staff Current legislation in the UK restricts the reporting of trials during active proceedings to prevent what’s happening outside the courtroom influencing the jury inside. But online content changes everything: even if something is reported prior to a case becoming active – namely, after an arrest has been made – the content is still ‘live’ and easily accessible by jurors online during a trial. In an era of 24-hour news coverage, social networking, and ‘never-die news’ courtesy of the web, contempt of court legislation in the UK is facing pressure to change. Is Contempt of Court legislation relevant, given the changing nature of technology? The challenge is how to avoid prejudicing trials in this 21st century news climate. The Society of Editors (SoE) has appealed to two different Attorney-Generals for a review, and in July beseeched secretary of state for justice, Jack Straw, to start the process. Journalism.co.uk talked to Bob Satchwell, executive d
