Page 201 - Law and the Media

Law and the Media
The same restrictions under the Employment Tribunals Act 1996 apply to proceedings before
the employment appeal tribunal.

9.15.4 Mental health review tribunals

The Mental Health Review Tribunal Rules (Statutory Instrument 1983/942 Rule 21) require
that mental health tribunals sit in private. The tribunal may admit any persons to the hearing
if it considers it appropriate to do so (Rule 21(3)). Rule 21(5) bans publication of:

. . . except in so far as the tribunal may direct, information about proceedings
before the tribunal and the names of any persons concerned in the proceedings.

As a result, the media may only publish the bare fact that an application has been made to
a tribunal, and the formal order. To the extent that the recorded reasons for the decision
disclose the evidential and other material on which it is based, it too will fall within the
prohibited areas (P v Liverpool Daily Post & Echo Newspapers Plc (1991)).

A mental health tribunal is a ‘court’ for the purposes of the Contempt of Court Act 1981
(Section 19), and has the power to make an order under Section 4(2) or Section 11 (see
sections 9.3 and 9.4 above).

9.15.5 Licensing justices

Licence applications for public houses and clubs are heard by the magistrates’ court. The
magistrates must hear applications and any objections to them in public. When magistrates
exercise a licensing power they are not acting in a judicial capacity (Boulter v Kent Justices
(1887)). Press reports are not constrained by the Contempt of Court Act 1981 (R v Redditch
Justices (1885)).

9.15.6 Planning enquiries

Local authority hearings concerning applications for planning permission, enforcement
notices and compulsory purchase of land take place in public. Any evidence filed in
documentary form is open to inspection. However, an order may be made that that it should
not be open to inspection if it relates to national security and the measures taken or to be
taken to ensure the security of any property (Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation
Areas) Act 1990, Schedule 3 Paragraph 6 (5–7); Planning (Hazardous Substances) Act
1990).

The findings of a local authority public planning enquiry are usually made available to the
media.
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