Law Revision.

Court Structure

The court structure is set out like a pyramid with the Supreme Court being the highest court there is. This court has 12 Justices and is located in Central London, Parliament Square. Below the Supreme Court is the Court of Appeal which is split into two divisions, civil division and the criminal division. From the civil division is the High Court which is sectioned into three parts: the Queens Bench, Family and Chancery which includes business cases. Below the High Court is the County Court which deals with minor offences such as building contractors and suing people who have breached a contract. Both the High Court and the County Court are civil courts that have judges present. They are headed by the DPP (director public prosecution) who currently is Alison Saunders. Another organisation is the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) which decides the sentences in the magistrates court. These include:

• Up to six months in prison
• Community Service
• A fine up to £5,000

The magistrates court does not have a jury present and usually deals with things such as family issues and contractual land etc. The functions of the magistrates court is to:

1. Find liable or not liable in family court and youth court
2. Decide the damages a fine, jail etc through the licensing apparatus
3. Deal with disputes between couples and marriages etc

On the other side of the court structure there is the criminal division which is the Crown Court. This is where all of the indictable cases are which consist of the State Vs the Person. The functions of the Crown Court is:

1. Appeals passed on from the Magistrates Court
2. Sentencing
3. Hear indictable cases

Sources of the law include:

• Common Law
• European Law
• Statue Law (parliament)
• Judicial (case law)

Chris Grayling is currently the Minister of Justice and oversees the administration of the court system. Dominic Grieve is the Attorney General and oversees the government decisions such as the Iraq War.

The Public Interest is when information published provides a 'sufficient benefit' for society to know about and puts them at a fair advantage for knowing such things. This could include a bird flu break out in an area that could upset the locals due to stopping people from visiting their village however can put them at an advantage so they can prepare for it or try and prevent themselves from catching it.

Criminal standard of proof is based on the balance of probabilities- beyond reasonable doubt

whereas Civil law standard of proof is based on the balance of probabilities and is lower than the criminal side.

Reporting Crime and the Court

Prejudice is publication of information which will prevent the accused person from having a fair trial due to the potential jury knowing information before the trial. 

Contempt is information that is published in breach of the court reporting rules and carries a high risk of prejudicing the legal proceedings. 

The stages of reporting a crime are as follows:

1. The crime is reported and the police hunt begins, appeal for witnesses and issue a description.
2. Police make an arrest and issue a warrant or state that 'someone is helping with their inquiries', the case is now legally active and there is a risk of prejudice.
3. The police lay the charges and a trial could be the case so you should only report facts that you know to be true. 'Community colour' is usually a good thing to fill your package with at this stage such as how the community have coped and their actions of laying flowers etc.
4. The court case is here and there are only seven points which can be reported these are:

• The name, age, address and occupation of the defendant
• The charges they face
• The name of the court and the magistrate
• The name of the barristers and solicitors present
• The date and place to where the case is adjourned 
• If they were granted bail
• If they received any legal aid

The case becomes 'legally active' once someone is charged or an arrest is made.

There are three types of offences, these are: Indictable offences (the Crown Court cases such as murder), either way offences (can go to either Magistrates or Crown Court such a robbery and drug offences and summary cases (the Magistrates Court cases such as family issues).

A conditional discharge is where the court does not impose a specific punishment but gives a time period that if the person re-offends in they will be liable for both offences.

Section 39- gives anonymity to under 18s in adult courts and cannot be reported, for instance if they were a witness.

Section 49 gives anonymity to under 18s in youth courts.

Jigsaw Identification is where a combination of details are published which can destroy someones anonymity and lead the public to speculate it is a specific person. This can happen when many newspapers or broadcasters reveal certain information on a specific person but each company state different facts. The case that links to this is the McAlpine case where on BBC Newsnight he was not named however a report they gave set off a series of jigsaw identification on Twitter which lead to the viewers publicly identifying McAlpine.

When reporting in the Crown Courts you should not report anything that is said if the jury are not present in the room. You are covered in court by 'absolute privilege' as long as your report is, fair (balanced) accurate (the evidence you report is correct) and contemporaneous (you publish it at the first chance you get so that it is current).

Libel and Defamation

Libel results from publishing a defamatory statement which identifies a person or a specific company.

PUBLICATION+ IDENTIFICATION+ DEFAMATION= LIBEL

Published for the public to see, identifies the person or company, contains a defamatory statement.

To define defamation- it is a statement which a 'reasonable man or women' may think 'tends to':

1. Lower someone in the estimation of right thinking people
2. Cause someone to be shunned and avoided
3. Disparages someone in their work or profession
4. Exposes someone to hatred, ridicule or contempt

Picture libel is something that we need to be aware of especially when reporting out on the streets. Framing people or company logos in shots when talking about a paedophile or a negative story can link this company or person to it without you realising. It could contain inference (secondary meaning) or an innuendo (possibly defamatory).

The Defamation Act 2013 sets out some new rules in the libel defences.

1. People must prove that they have suffered 'serious harm' such as the losses serious e.g. losing a job or a lot of money because of it.
2. Truth- it must be the substantial truth
3. Honest opinion- it must be an honestly held opinion based on fact or facts that existed at the time, it no longer has to be in the public interest but must remain free of malice.

Publication on the matter of public interest must be 'reasonably believed' to be in the public interest and valuable for the public to know.

Qualified privilege gives journalists freedom to report what goes on in council meetings or in statements freely even if they are potential defamatory or untrue statements. It gives you legal protection from being sued as long as your accounts are fair, accurate and in the public interest without malice.

Qualified privilege without explanation or contradiction contain proceedings in the legislature anywhere in the world but must publish a letter or statement from the person defamed if requested.

Qualified privilege with explanation or contradiction does not need to publish this sort of material as it is covered by what was said in a public meeting.

Lee Clegg was a soldier that was jailed for killing two joy riders. However due to a campaign from The Daily Mail where 1.5 million readers signed a petition he was released as it was argued that he was simply doing his job. He was also allowed to return to the front line and fight again. 

Copyright

This is the exclusive legal right given to an organisation or person to print/ publish, film or record artistic or musical material. The purpose of copyright is to protect intellectual property of products and skill. Undeveloped ideas such as slogans or catchphrases are not protected.

You can use snippets of people's work through the use of 'fair dealing' if you comply with these rules:

1. Work cannot be passed off as your own therefore it needs to be accredited
2. Usage must be fair
3. Material must be in the public interest

Photographs and TV News pictures etc are not covered by fair dealing and it is important to remember that Internet material is also subject to copyright.

Confidentiality 

The law of confidence safeguards information obtained in confidential circumstances between individuals or a company and its employees. The three areas that are a concern to journalists are:

1. Revealing state or official secrets
2. Revealing commercial secrets
3. Revealing facts about someone that they would expect to remain in private such as NHS health records.

The Official Secrets Act protects state secrets (military or intelligence) and prevents people from publishing photos of sensitive military installations as it is a criminal offence to do so. However this act is rarely used.

Commercial confidentiality is protected by contract of employment laws such as not revealing finance information. At times these figures can be in the public interest and it is up to the journalist to decide on the risk of legal action if they publish something like this. Journalists must decide whether to risk an injunction by seeking a response to the allegation or publishing material and taking risk of legal action for breach of confidence or defamation. 

Important Cases

Max Mosley Vs The News of the World 2008, printed a story that Max Mosley had an orgy with five women and reported that it contained a Nazi them. The High Court ruled that there was no public interest in revealing activities and that Mosley had a right of privacy in which damages were rewarded.

Naomi Campbell Vs The Mirror is when they published photographs of her leaving a narcotics anonymous meeting and reported about her therapy for a drug addiction. The House of Lords ruled that there was a breach of confidence as she should expect privacy.

PCC, Ofcom, BBC Editorial Guidelines

These all decide what is justified for journalist behaviour. Ofcom rules that there should be an absolute requirement for accuracy and impartiality. The Ofcom code has statutory power and can impose large fines and even remove broadcast licenses. ITV were fined 5.6 million for abusing phone in votes for money on Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway.

The PCC (press complaints commission) is now discredited as they did not do enough over the Leveson Enquiry situation. At present they are still regulating and making decisions on their website though. The BBC Editorial Guidelines is a system of regulation for people at the BBC to follow.

Reporting Elections

Accuracy and impartiality is important for reporting as the way you report can influence the public choice in voting. The danger areas for journalists are:

• False statements about candidates
• Maintaining impartiality
• Reporting on opinion and exit polls

To remain impartial you should assess your coverage each day and keep a log of the coverage for the parties to make sure they are all around the correct amount. Major and minor parties do not have to have equal coverage time. It is an offence to refer to exit polls (how real voting is going) until the polling closes as this could prevent people from voting if they think their party isn't doing too well. On polling day the coverage should remain minimal and there should be no reference to political issues or arguments.

Inquests

The function of inquests is to find the cause of death. This death could be due to: unlawful killing or an accidental death. 

They are conducted by the coroner who legally has to find the cause of death if it appears to be 'violent or unnatural'. There is a jury of 8-11 people with these cases and is covered by qualified privilege.