This post is about reporting criminal cases in English and Welsh courts.
Criminal courts in England and Wales are generally open to the public and to journalists. (It’s worth remembering that journalists in the UK have no special rights. We are treated as ordinary members of the public.)
Some courts that deal with private, family matters such as divorce are closed to the public, and to journalists. This post is about criminal courts, where people are tried if they are accused of breaking the law.
Reporting on criminal cases in court is an important part of journalism. Setting out what happens to people when they are accused of breaking the law is a vital way to show that people are being treated fairly and that the country’s legal system is working. It’s important to remember that we journalists have a duty to be fair too.
So let’s have a look at what actually happens…
Once someone is arrested/charged by the police (or a warrant is issued for their arrest), their case is said to be “active.” This means there are rules about what you can and can’t report. You might expect to read a report like this one.
The case will now begin its journey through the legal process and will eventually be tried in a criminal court (if the defendant is pleading not guilty.) Criminal cases are dealt with by either a Magistrates’ Court or a Crown Court.
Magistrates’ Courts handle less serious offences and a case is generally dealt with quite quickly. There are usually no judges or juries in Magistrates’ Courts and defendants are represented by lawyers called solicitors. Judgement comes from the “bench” of three volunteer magistrates (members of the public who have been given some training). They do have the power to send somebody to jail for up to six months, but generally sentences in Magistrates’ Courts are non-custodial. Typical offences include theft or drink driving. When I was a reporter on a local weekly paper I would be sent to Magistrates’ Court twice a week and expected to write up the most interesting/newsworthy cases.
More serious offences are dealt with in a Crown Court, in front of a judge and jury. There are around 90 Crown Courts across the UK. The lawyers who work in Crown Court are called barristers. The most senior ones are called KCs. (KC stands for King’s Counsel.) A jury is made up of 12 members of the public selected randomly. They listen to the evidence and decide if a defendant is guilty or not guilty “beyond reasonable doubt.” If they can’t reach a unanimous verdict, the judge may sometimes allow a majority verdict. If someone is accused, for example, of four counts of murder, the jury will be expected to reach a verdict on each one. If the verdict is guilty the judge will then decide on the sentence.
When covering courts a journalist must take great care not to prejudice the proceedings. The law around this is called the Contempt of Court Act. As well as setting out when a case becomes “active,” it says you should only report what is said in open court, in front of the jury.
In a liberal democracy like the UK, everybody is entitled to an open trial and they are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty. As a journalist you have a duty to make sure you don’t interfere with a trial.
The right that somebody has to a fair trial can be jeopardised if, for example, you reveal in your reporting that they have already been in jail for similar offences. If a jury member became aware of that, it would possibly influence them. (Jury members are often advised by the judge not to read any media coverage of a trial, but they could easily be told by a friend or relative.)
The process of justice can take a long time. After someone is arrested and charged it might be months before their trial starts. Before then they may appear in court to apply for bail if they are in jail on remand, or to plead to further charges that have been put before the court. These hearings are not always covered by the media and if the hearing relates to technical aspects of the law, the defendant may not even attend.
But eventually the big day will come and if a defendant is pleading not guilty, a trial for something like murder can take weeks to complete. Complex fraud cases can take much longer — months and months. This can place a big burden on the jury.
Covering a long trial places a big burden on the media too. It’s expensive to have someone sitting in court day after day, so news organisations often only cover the start of a trial, the key witnesses and the verdict/sentencing. Local news agencies may fill the gap by supplying copy to a number of newsrooms.
Whatever court you are in, as a journalist your job is to report what is said in the court as the case is being heard. You are not there to interview people or to try to write a wider feature. Your job is to get a good note of what is said and write it into a news story. This is an example of a piece of court reporting from a typical day in a murder trial. The defence barrister is opening their case.
You can’t record what’s being said in court on your phone. You have to write it down. (This is where having 100 words a minute shorthand is very useful.) No cameras are allowed in court, but journalists are allowed to tweet from a trial. Skilled court artists are hired to draw portraits of the key people so that there are some pictures. Julia Quenzler has been the BBC’s court artist for decades.
Once a trial ends, news organisations may run background pieces which include interviews with victims or the police, for example. You are not allowed to interview members of the jury. It’s assumed a judge can’t be influenced before sentencing so these pieces may run before sentencing has taken place. If the defendant has been found not guilty or has their case dismissed, they are free to speak to the media. (And normally do.)
Court reporting in the UK is in decline. News organisations are far less likely to send journalists to cover trials: they don’t have the money. An important part of our public life is reported less and less.
Still, at least we have this.
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