Page 208 - Law and the Media

Contempt of Court
being charged. The CCA states that proceedings that become active upon arrest cease to be
active if the suspect is released on anything other than bail. When the arrested person is freed
unconditionally, the media are not inhibited by the strict liability rule.

Bail
The media face real difficulty when the suspect is released without being charged but on
police bail. The proceedings remain active. The terms of bail may be that the suspect has to
report back to the police station on a date in the future. Such people are often never charged.
In the meantime, however, the proceedings remain active and media coverage of the suspect
is still subject to the strict liability rule.

Warrants
Similar difficulties may occur with warrants. The person named in the warrant may not be
apprehended for many months. The police and media may be aware that the suspect has fled
the country and is unlikely to return. However, media coverage is severely restricted from the
moment the warrant is issued.

Two factors exist that mitigate the problem for the media. The first is the provision in the
CCA that provides that proceedings that become active on the issue of a warrant cease to be
active 12 months from the date of the warrant if the suspect has not been arrested during that
period. The second is that the Attorney General made it clear before the CCA became law
that he would not use it to institute contempt proceedings where the media assist the police
with publicity in a ‘hue and cry’ situation.

In practice, therefore, the media has nothing to fear from publishing pictures of wanted men
or prejudicial descriptions of them – for example ‘armed and dangerous’ – if they are clearly
acting for the protection of and in the interests of the public.

Conclusion
Criminal proceedings are concluded by:

An acquittal or by sentence
Any other verdict or finding or other decision which puts an end to the
proceedings, or
Discontinuance or operation of law.
In general terms, this means that the active period ceases when the proceedings are brought
to an end for whatever reason. This includes instances where charges are dropped or an order
is made by the court that they should ‘lie on the file’, which means no further action will be
taken on them.

It is important to note that proceedings remain active until sentence is passed. There will often
be a gap between a finding of guilt and the passing of sentence. The judge may postpone
sentence to await sentencing reports. The strict liability rule continues to apply until sentence.
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