When reporting as a journalist, you may have to report on a story involving a court. Reporting to court comes with restrictions which, if you do not follow them, could cause you to break the law. If you break the law by reporting a pending matter to a court, you could potentially be fined the amount depending on the seriousness of the law you are breaking or possibly given a custodial sentence. In this essay I will examine the main restrictions placed on journalists when covering a court in the UK and why they were put in place. The first law I will explain is the law of contempt of court. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Contempt of court protects the integrity of the legal process from outside influence. There are different types of reporting restrictions possible, some of which apply automatically while others are at the discretion of the court (BBC Academy, 2018). Contempt of court is the main law put in place to prevent journalists from influencing a matter taking place in court. This law was put in place to prevent journalists from influencing a jury during a case by what they publish in their form of journalism, whether print or media. Another example of contempt of court described by (BBC Academy, 2018) You can also commit contempt of court by, for example, questioning a witness before a trial or even pressuring them to give an interview after the trial. trial. It is important not to break the law regarding contempt of court because you can be fined for the crime you commit. An example of this comes from (Rawlinson, 2016) “The editor of GQ magazine was fined £10,000 after being found in contempt of court. an article that seriously risked damaging the phone hacking trial of Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. This was a case where the managing director of a newspaper was being investigated for violating the law and was brought to court. During the trial, GQ published remarks about Rebekah Brooks, the executive director in question, in an article that was published. The judge in the case ruled that the remarks would prejudice the trial and decided to fine GQ magazine for the publication. Contempt of court action can take place in court when court proceedings are "active", as described by (Explanation of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 (Inbrief.co.uk) The CCA 1981 does not applies only when: a publication carries a substantial risk of serious prejudice to justice in the proceedings, and the proceedings are active The criminal proceedings are generally active from the point of arrest without an arrest warrant, issuance of. an arrest warrant or a summons to appear, service of an indictment or oral accusation, whichever occurs first. The procedure ceases to be active upon acquittal or conviction; the proceedings in progress; an abandonment of the proceedings (Explanation of the Contempt of Court Act 1981, Inbrief.co.uk) There are laws which are put in place from the outset in cases before them. magistrates and courts, which can only allow journalists to report certain aspects of the ongoing case. in court. In most cases, the court can lift restrictions on the journalist reporting the case, but this remainsat the discretion of the court. There are many rules which automatically prevent journalists from reporting certain aspects of the case at initial hearings, this applies to both the Crown Court and the Magistrates Court. In the trial court, the rules apply and limit what can be reported at the preliminary hearing only in criminal cases and in both cases. as well as pre-trial hearings in cases involving summary offences. Issues such as bail and transfer to crown court are dealt with at these types of hearings (BBC Academy, 2018). At the Crown Court you need to be careful about what you report, because at the Crown Court pre-trial and pre-trial hearings take place, you need to be careful about what you report during these hearings, because they take place when the jury is not present and are used by the judge to decide what evidence to present to the jury. If you report what was said during these hearings, then you could potentially influence the jury and commit contempt of court. However, during preliminary and preparatory hearings, journalists are allowed to report on the following: The name of the court in which the case is taking place. The judges in charge of the case. The accusations made. The lawyers involved in the case. the affair. The names, addresses, ages and occupations of the accused and witnesses. All of these restrictions put in place during trials in magistrates' courts and crown courts are used to limit the publication by journalists of any evidence or information that could influence a jury into information outside of court. An example of a media outlet likely to commit contempt of court during a pre-trial or pre-trial hearing and possibly mid-trial would be if the media outlet published an article explaining how the defendant had already been convicted for the same offense. for which they are judged. This information is usually hidden from the jury, as previously stated, and if this article were read by a member of the jury it could influence them. In some cases, in court, it is the children who committed the crime or who were victims of the crime. A child is anyone considered to be under the age of 18 and these cases are usually handled in youth courts. When reporting a matter involving children, you must be careful how you report the matter, as they should be treated differently than how an adult would be judged. There are many restrictions on reporting cases involving children, as described in (Reporting Legal Proceedings, Channel 4) Reports of proceedings in juvenile court must not contain the name, address, school or any other detail likely to lead to the identification of a person under 18 years of age involved in the proceedings as an accused or witness, nor contain a photograph showing such a minor. Adults involved in a proceeding in juvenile court may be identified provided that this does not identify any minor involved in the proceeding. These rules do not apply where a minor has been brought before the Crown Court. Note that a juvenile court may waive these automatic restrictions in certain circumstances, but the minor cannot waive the protections even if he or she actively wishes to be identified. Once a minor involved in a juvenile court proceeding turns 18, reporting restrictions no longer apply. Journalists who work in a court where.