Contempt of Court Part 2: Defences PDF

Contempt part 2 - Defences - Just like previous areas of law we have covered (think defamation, copyright, confidentiality), there are occasions when you can plead a defence - This is when you have potentially prejudiced active proceedings - but you had a valid reason/excuse...

Contempt part 2 - Defences - Just like previous areas of law we have covered (think defamation, copyright, confidentiality), there are occasions when you can plead a defence - This is when you have potentially prejudiced active proceedings - but you had a valid reason/excuse Police appeals defence - A precedent set by the Attorney General - (police appeals for help!) - Not mentioned in any legislation - Set up as a precedent by the Attorney General during the debate on the Contempt Bill in the House of Commons in 1981 - Essentially means even when a case is active, you can report potentially prejudicial information – if it’s been given to you by the police to catch wanted suspects - The Attorney General said in 1981 that the press would have nothing to fear if they published in reasoned terms any appeal from the police to apprehend a wanted suspect - This means, despite the case being active, the press can legitimately run these stories without fear of being prosecuted. - In fact, no publisher has ever been prosecuted for contempt for helping police with their inquiries - The moment a wanted person is arrested - the defence disappears and normal contempt service resumes - This means you should no longer include any potential prejudicial information in your reports Section 3 defence - innocent publication Consider this - You work for a regional newspaper and cover a story about an armed robbery at a jewellery store opposite your office. - The police tell you they know who the raiders are. They are well known criminals and the police give you their pictures, names, ages, last known addresses and say they should not be approached because they are dangerous. - You include all this information in your story which appears in the following day’s paper. - The next afternoon the police tell you the men were arrested after your deadline but before your paper hit the streets. - Your paper has now seriously prejudiced active proceedings.  - What do you do? s3(1)Having taken reasonable care, you did not know, and had no reason to suspect, that relevant proceedings were active. – the burden is on the reporter to check with the police whether the case is active / someone has been arrested/charged (this ensures you have taken reasonable care) s3(2) – distributors (news organisations) would be not guilty of contempt of court if they took reasonable care and did not know that the publication contained prejudicial matter and no reason to suspect that it did Best practice is not to allow comments under active cases on your website. If you do, then you should remove prejudicial comments immediately. And if posting on social media, issue a warning to readers not to post anything prejudicial Section 4 defence - contemporary reports of proceedings Section 4 defence, Contempt of Court Act 1981 …a person is not guilty of contempt for a fair and accurate report of a court case held in public, published contemporaneously and in good faith What does that all mean? - Essentially, if no court order is imposed stopping you from reporting that information, and you published it in good faith (not realising it could be prejudicial) then you have a defence. But it has to meet all the criteria… contemporary reports defence – example If the defendant pleads not guilty or no plea has entered, this means there’s a risk of committing contempt. To meet the section 4 defence you must: - State what the accused is said to have done as allegations, claims, jury heard, prosecution said, jury was told, the witness said… - Only agreed/undisputed matters (what the crime was, where and when did it happen...) are stated as fact - Pleas are stated clearly / include both sides - Indicate to the reader that the case isn’t over e.g. stating that the hearing has been adjourned until another date, or that trial continues/expected to last six weeks - You must make sure it is an accurate report of what was said in the courtroom (remember, it’s not about reporting the truth – it’s about writing a fair and accurate report of the proceedings) Contemporaneously – as soon as practicable Good faith - what does it mean? - You must leave out anything you believe might seriously prejudice that case, or another case Such as… - Information / evidence revealed at a pre-trial hearing or when the jury is absent or if it’s not been revealed as part of the trial NOTE: You do not have to leave out anything the jury has heard in court as part of evidence. If they have heard it, they can’t be prejudiced by it in the media later If no order has been made stopping you reporting the information at the time, then you are unlikely to be prosecuted (unless, as above, it’s been revealed when the jury is out of the room) Section 5 defence - discussion of public affairs defence, Contempt of Court Act 1981 …a publication made as, or part of, a discussion in good faith of public affairs, is not to be treated as contempt if the risk of impediment or prejudice to particular proceedings is merely incidental What does that mean? Allows media to carry reports discussing general public interest issues provided those reports do not refer specifically to an active case… Public interest eg: - crime in general - sexual offences - juvenile crime - burglaries - terrorism