Media Law Lecture #2

Here's an expansion on the notes I took in my second law lecture:

Court Reporting

Basic Legal Principles
          Presumption of Innocence
This means that you are innocent until proven guilty "beyond reasonable doubt." When a defendant enters a court he is to be tried on that case and that case only, so any previous convictions are not taken into account. The jury do not know about these and thus can't judge the offender on them, even sub-consciously. To be proven beyond reasonable doubt, there must be forms of either forensic evidence, reliable witnesses, or the defendant can confess. However, a confession isn't always concrete as history shows that police can interrogate people to the extent that they give a false confession. This happens particularly with young offenders.

         The Right to a Jury Trial
In the UK every offender has the legal right to be tried by a jury. A jury is a group of 12 members of the public who are randomly selected from the electoral roll to try the defendant. They must sit through the entire case and then weigh up the evidence and decide if the defendant is guilty or innocent. This is done by a vote, but a majority is needed to be able to decide either way. If the jury can't reach a majority vote then there will be a retrial. Another factor that could lead to a retrial would be if a member of the jury interferes of contacts the defendant, this would pervert the course of justice.

          Justice Must be Seen to be Done
All trials  (unless they are a threat to social security or the anonymity of a child is concerned) are to be aired in public. The general public can sit in the court's viewing gallery so that they can see justice be done, or even, in some cases, mis-justice. The press can also view trials as they are seen as the "eyes and ears of the public." Judges can rule against this, however, but the public and the press can challenge the judgement.

Criminal Court
          The Jury, Barristers and the Judge
Juries are only found in crown courts. They can only decide on whether the defendant is innocent or guilty, only a judge is able to pass a sentence. Juries are only able to judge the defendant on the evidence provided, any previous convictions are mentioned only when relevant or after the Jury has reached it's verdict.


Barristers are high-up lawyers who argue the cases for the defendants and the prosecutors. They question the evidence and fight tooth and nail for their cases.


Judges head each trial. They decide on the accessibility of the evidence, meaning that they can discard evidence they don't find relevant to the case. Another duty of the judge's is to guide them on the law, although they must be careful not to lead them. A judge must decide on the punishment if the defendant is found guilty.
        
          The Crown Court
Crown courts deal with indictable offences that carry a sentence of five years or more, cases such as these are bypassed by the magistrates as they are too hardcore for them to deal with. Crown courts also hear appeals by people who have already lost trials and been convicted. Smaller cases (summary) also pass through these courts, fines are laid down for actions such as drink driving and parking tickets. Either way cases, such as the use of Class B drugs can also go through Crown courts should the defendant wishes to be trialled by a duty.

         Contempt of Court - Strict Liability
Contempt of Court happens when anything is done to prevent the court of convicting justice, such as threatening the jury and witness, this carries a prison sentence of five years. A good example of this involves two footballers: Jonathan Woodgate and Lee Bowyer, who were accused of attacking Asian youths. Colin Myler, the former editor of the Sunday Mirror, interviewed the families of the victims whilst the trial was in progress. The interviews were published, thus prejudicing the jury and committing contempt of course, rendering the case a mis-trial.

          Prejudice
Prejudice can destroy journalists, so it's very important that they stick to the facts. Pre-judice means to pre-judge before any facts are revealed. It can involve assuming guilt due to the appearance and personality of the defendant. It stops them from having a fair trial due to the lack of presumption of innocence.