Page 197 - Law and the Media

Law and the Media
‘Disclosed’ in Section 8(1) of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 is given a wide meaning and
covers the reporting of jury room deliberations by a member of the jury as well as by a
person such as a publisher, editor or journalist who has received such information.

In HM Attorney General v Associated Newspapers Limited (1993), the Mail on Sunday was
fined £30 000 for publishing an article that revealed the opinions of the jurors in the year long
Blue Arrow fraud trial because the ‘free, uninhibited and unfettered discussion by the jury in
the course of their deliberations is essential to the proper administration of justice’.

9.14 Tape recorders, photographs and sketches

As well as the limitations placed on the content of court reports, there are also certain
restrictions on how those reports are gathered.

9.14.1 Tape recorders

Section 9(1) of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 makes it contempt to:

Use in court, or bring into court for use, any tape recorder or other instrument for
recording sound, except with the permission of the court
Use any such recording in contravention of any permission granted by the court,
or
Publish a recording of legal proceedings made by any instrument or any recording
derived directly or indirectly from such an instrument, by playing it in public or to
any section of the public or disposing of it or any recording so derived with a view
to publication.

Tape recorders are rarely seen on court press benches. However, the court has discretion
to grant permission for the use of tape recordings in court subject to restrictions that it
considers appropriate (Practice Direction (Tape Recorders) (1981)). For example, the
discretion could be exercised to allow reporters to check their court notes. When deciding
whether to give leave the court should consider ‘any reasonable need on the part of the
applicant’, but permission should not be granted if there is a risk that the recording will
be used for briefing future witnesses or where the sight of or noise from the machine
could distract the court.

Once permission has been granted, the court may amend or withdraw it in relation to part or
all of the proceedings (Section 9(2) of the Contempt of Court Act 1981).

Sound recordings made for the purposes of official transcripts of the proceedings are exempt
from the restrictions.
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