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ABSTRACT
Video journalists currently reporting from English courts operate within a strict framework set by both statutory and common law. The main argument for these tight rules has traditionally been that the cameras pose a threat to the proper administration of justice. Their potential danger to the privacy of those involved in the trial, on the other hand, has never been properly examined. This comment aims to fill this gap and argues in favour of taking privacy into account when developing future rules for using cameras in court.
Acknowledgements
I am indebted to Birke Häcker for her support both during and after the stay in Oxford.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes on contributor
Anna K. Bernzen, Ph.D. student at the University of Osnabrück, Germany. Research assistant at the University of Mannheim, Germany.
Notes
* This article is the product of a research visit to the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies at the University of Oxford.
1 Helena Kennedy, ‘Cameras in court are a threat to justice’ The Guardian (London, 3 November 2013) <www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/03/cameras-in-court-threat-justice> accessed 4 April 2018.
2 Re St Andrew’s, Heddington [1977] 3 WLR 286, 289 f.; J Barber & Sons v Lloyd’s Underwriters [1987] QB 103 (QB) 105; R v Loveridge [2001] 2 Cr App R 29 (CA) 591, 597 f.
3 Practice Direction 8: Miscellaneous Matters, footnote 10.
4 Joshua Rozenberg, ‘The Media and the UK Supreme Court’ (2012) 1 CJICL 44, 45.
5 ‘Supreme Court Live’ <https://news.sky.com/supreme-court-live> accessed 4 April 2018.
6 ‘Supreme Court Live’ <www.supremecourt.uk/live/court-01.html>, <www.supremecourt.uk/live/court-02.html> accessed 4 April 2018.
7 Supreme Court, ‘Catch-up on court action: Supreme Court launches “video on demand” service’ (London, 5 May 2015) <www.supremecourt.uk/news/catch-up-on-court-action-supreme-court-launches-video-on-demand-service.html> accessed 4 April 2018.
8 ‘UKSupremeCourt’ <www.youtube.com/user/UKSupremeCourt> accessed 4 April 2018.
9 Court of Appeal (Recording and Broadcasting) Order 2013, art 3.
10 Court of Appeal (Recording and Broadcasting) Order 2013, art 6.
11 Court of Appeal (Recording and Broadcasting) Order 2013, art 11.
12 Owen Bowcott, ‘Televising of court of appeal proceedings starts this week’ The Guardian (30 October 2013) <www.theguardian.com/law/2013/oct/30/court-of-appeal-proceedings-televised> accessed 4 April 2018.
13 Ministry of Justice, ‘Proposal to allow the broadcasting, filming, and recording of selected court proceedings’ (May 2012) <https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/217307/broadcasting-filming-recording-courts.pdf> accessed 4 April 2018, p 8.
14 Crown Court (Recording) Order 2016, SI 2016/612.
15 Explanatory Memorandum to the Crown Court (Recording) Order 2015, para 9.1.
16 R v D [2004] EWCA Crim 1271 [15].
17 R v D (n 16) [16].
18 Solicitor General v Cox [2016] EWHC 1241 (QB), [2016] 2 Cr App R 15 [23].
19 Cox (n 18) [24].
20 Cox (n 18) [26].
21 Cox (n 18) [27].
22 R v Smith [2016] EWCA Crim 1562 [20].
23 R v D (n 16) [18].
24 Ibid; R v Ivanov [2013] EWCA Crim 614 [12].
25 John Pritchard, ‘Should cameras be allowed in the courtroom?’ Legal Business (London, January/February 1992) 3, 4; John Nutting, ‘Cameras in the Courtroom − The Case Against Change’ (1996) 1992 Inter Alia 13, 14.
26 C.H. Rolph, ‘In camera’ (1990) 140 NLJ 382; Ben Hytner, ‘Televising the Courts − case against reform’ (1992) 13 JMLP 174; James Morton, ‘Court TV − The Cameras Are Switched on Again’ (2004) 68 JCL 451, 452; Thomas Goodman, ‘Should There Be Cameras in Court?’ (2016) 25 NottLJ 167, 169.
27 Andrea Biondi, ‘TV Cameras Access into the Courtroom: A Comparative Note’ [1996] Yearbook of Media and Entertainment Law 133, 140; Goodman (n 26) 169.
28 Biondi (n 27) 140; Morton (n 26) 452; Goodman (n 26) 169.
29 Ministry of Justice (n 13) p 20.
30 Brian McConnell, ‘Cameras in court’ (1990) 140 NLJ 1622; Hytner (n 26); Biondi (n 27) 140; Morton (n 26) 452; Edward Thompson, ‘Does the Open Justice Principle Require Cameras to be Permitted in the Courtroom and the Broadcasting of Legal Proceedings?’ (2011) 3 JML 211, 228.
31 Morton (n 26) 452; Thompson (n 30) 228.
32 Goodman (n 26) 169 f.
33 Morton (n 26) 452.
34 Paul Lambert, ‘Courtroom television cameras and the media’ (1995) 16 JMLP 139, 141.
35 Mark Stephens, ‘Justice on the box? The televising of trials ponders to the current trend for true-life crimes rather than showing the reality’ [1994] LS Gaz, 16 Nov, 91(2).
36 Jacline Evered, ‘Televised Justice: Considered Proposals for the Controlled Use of Television Cameras in the United Kingdom Courts’ (1997) 2 CIL 23, 36.
37 Elaine Freer, ‘Courts in Camera or on Camera?’ (2012) 176 JPN 585, 586.
38 Morton (n 26) 452.
39 Pritchard (n 25).
40 HC Deb 11 May 1925, vol 183, col 1599.
41 Evered (n 36) 38.
42 Re St. Andrew’s, Heddington (n 2) 289.
43 Biondi (n 27) 146.
44 Home Office and Ministry of Justice, Memorandum to the Crime and Courts Bill, European Convention on Human Rights, para 127.
45 Joint Committee on Human Rights, Legislative Scrutiny: Crime and Courts Bill (fifth report) (2012−13, HL 67, HC 771) 54.
46 Ibid.
47 HL Deb 10 December 2012, vol 741, col 863.
48 Niemietz v Germany (1992) 16 EHRR 97, 111.
49 Anthony Lester, David Pannick and Javan Herberg (eds), Human Rights Law and Practice (3rd edn, LexisNexis 2009) para 4.8.32.
50 Z v Finland (1997) 25 EHRR 371, 405.
51 Von Hannover v Germany (no 1) (2005) 40 EHRR 1, 23; Sciacca v Italy (2005) 43 EHRR 20, 400, 406; Reklos v Greece [2009] EMLR 290, 300 f; von Hannover v Germany (no 2) [2012] EMLR 16, 332, 365.
52 Axel Springer SE v Germany App no 51405/12 (ECtHR, 21 September 2017).
53 Axel Springer (n 52) [14].
54 Axel Springer (n 52) [59].
55 Axel Springer (n 52) [33].
56 Axel Springer (n 52) [38].
57 Axel Springer (n 52) [40].
58 Joint Committee on Human Rights (n 45) 54.
59 Ursula Smartt, Media & Entertainment Law (3rd edn, Routledge 2017) para 8.2.1.
60 39A PD 1.5(9).
61 Heather Brooke, The Silent State: Secrets, Surveillance and the Myth of British Democracy (Windmill Books 2011) 179.