Court Reporting - Restrictions In S52A

Front 1

What is a pre-trial hearing?

Back 1

When a denied charge is heading for a summary trial, magistrates may hold at least one pre-trial hearing to rule on any dispute between prosecution and defence on admissibility of evidence or points of law, and to decide on bail.

Front 2

What is section 8C of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980?

Back 2

It is a section which has automatic restrictions which limit contemporaneous reporting of pre-trial hearings.

Front 3

Why was section 8C of the Magistrates Courts Act 1980 introduced?

Back 3

To prevent risk of prejudice should a case originally due to be tried by a magistrates and end up being tried by a Crown court jury. Magistrates could initially agree to try an either-way case but later in a pre-trial hearing decide that a Crown court should try it. The rationale would be that the alleged offence was more serious than first appeared.

Front 4

Who are regarded as susceptible to prejudicial material?

Back 4

Jurors.

Front 5

What do section 8C ban the publication of?

Back 5

Any rulings by magistrates in pre-trial hearings on admissibility of evidence and points of law, and any order made in them to discharge or vary such ruling.

The proceedings, in those hearings, concerning applications for such rulings and for such orders, including legal argument and discussion about whether such a ruling or order should be made.

Front 6

When does a pre-trial hearing start?

Back 6

It is defined in the Act as any proceeding which occurs after a defendant has pleaded not guilty but before magistrates start hearing prosecution evidence at trial. So section 8C could cover most of a defendant's first appearance at court, as well as any other pre-trial hearing, but it does NOT prevent contemporaneous reporting of the plea.

Front 7

What seven categories of information from the pre-trial proceedings can the media report on?

Back 7

- The name of the court and the magistrates' names

- The names, ages, home addresses and occupations of the defendants and witnesses

- The charge(s) in full, or summarised

- The names of solicitors and barristers in the proceedings

- If the case is adjourned, the date and place to which it is adjourned

- Arrangements as to bail (unless ordered otherwise)

- Whether legal aid was granted

Front 8

What else is safe to publish about reporting restrictions?

Back 8

That reporting restrictions are in force, because it is not prejudicial.

Front 9

What is the effect of the section 8C restrictions?

Back 9

- To ban publication of any reference to evidence, except as it is encapsulated in the wording of the charge(s).

Front 10

What restrictions are in place as part of section 8C with regards to bail?

Back 10

Cannot report in most instances why the prosecution opposed bail or reasons the magistrates gave for refusing it - because that information could be prejudicial.

It would be safe to report that someone was remanded in custody for their own protection however.

Front 11

When do section 8C restrictions cease to apply?

Back 11

- The court can lift them if it is in the interest of justice.

- When the case is disposed of, which is when all defendants are acquitted or convicted of all charges in the case, or if it is dismissed by the court, for example because of insufficient evidence, or the prosecution decide not to proceed with it.

Front 12

What is the liability for breach of section 8C restrictions?

Back 12

A proprietor, editor or publisher can be prosecuted, and the maximum fine is currently £5,000.

Front 13

What are types of prejudicial material?

Back 13

- Any reference to evidence in the case, apart from what is encapsulated in the wording of charges.

Evidence could be detailed in a preliminary hearing to decide on bail, for example. But the evidence may not be used in a court date because it may be considered as inadmissible.

- Any previous convictions the defendant has, even if it is used in a preliminary hearing to decide on bail.

Front 14

List the categories that can be published as part of the section 8 restrictions (and automatic reporting restrictions)

Back 14

- The name of the court

- The names, addresses and occupations of the parties, including the defendant and of witnesses and the ages of the defendants and witnesses

- The charge(s) in full or summarised

- The names of legal representatives engaged in the proceedings

- If proceedings are adjourned, the date and place to which they are adjourned.

- 'Arrangements as to bail', that is whether bail was granted or refused, and, if it was granted, any bail conditions and surety arrangement.

- Whether legal aid was granted

- The fact that reporting restrictions are in force.

Front 15

What does section 8 say about reporting a committal hearing? In addition to the 8 categories that have already been mentioned.

Back 15

- Any decision of the magistrates to commit any defendant to Crown court for trial; if a defendant is committed for trial, the charge(s) on which he/she is committed, and the name of the Crown court

- When there is more than one defendant, and one is committed for trial, any decision on the 'disposal' of the case of any defendant not committed for trial, for example, that there was a discharge because of insufficient evidence.

Front 16

What do reporters routinely publish about denials of guilt and choice of jury trial?

Back 16

- Basic protestations of innocence, made by the defendant from the dock or through a solicitor. In an indictable-only case no formal plea is taken at the magistrates court, but it may be made clear there that the charge is denied. In either-way cases defendants are asked to indicate how they will plead;

- That a defendant, in an either-way case, has chosen trial by jury.

Front 17

Why are the media safe in reporting protestations of innocence and choice of jury trial?

Back 17

- It seems only fair to the defendant to quote denial of guilt - if made in relation to the only charge faced, or to all charges - and that jury trial was chosen, which too indicates denial of the charge(s).

- Publishing such matter cannot be prejudicial - a jury, obviously, will know if a charge is denied.

Front 18

What should the media be wary of when publishing protestations of innocence in the future?

Back 18

Of reporting anything which suggests that a defendant will later enter a mixture of pleas - for example, quotes suggesting they will admit one charge while denying another. This could be prejudicial if at trial jurors are not told of the admission but remember it from pre-trial coverage.

Front 19

What can the media report about the courtroom scene?

Back 19

That the hearing lasted ten minutes, what the defendant wore, that they 'spoke only to confirm their name and address', that guards stood on either side of them. Such bland material will not cause prejudice to the case.

Front 20

What does a reporter need to be wary of when publishing background information as part of a report for a preliminary hearing?

Back 20

Using background material from sources other than the court hearing is not itself a report of those proceedings and so does not contravene section 8. It does however contravene with the Contempt of Court Act. Mingling background material into a court report without sufficient care could create such risk, for example, potential jurors who see the report could draw wrong inferences about what the case evidence is.

Front 21

What should a reporter do to avoid confusion about preliminary hearing reporting and background material?

Back 21

If they want to report on an alleged crime which has occurred in the previous 24 hours and that the alleged perpetrator already appeared in a preliminary hearing, is to publish items segregated by page design or separate narrative. Each item could have its own headline/introduction. One item would be a story on the alleged incident, conforming to contempt law, not citing information from the court hearing, and other item would be a separate report solely of the preliminary hearing, conforming to the section 8 restrictions.

Front 22

What is the liability for breach of the section 8 restrictions?

Back 22

'Any proprietor, editor or publisher' of a newspaper or periodical can be prosecuted if it breaches the restrictions. In the case of a TV or radio programme, 'the body corporate which provides the service' and any person whose 'functions in relation to the programme correspond to those of an editor of a newspaper' can be prosecuted. The maximum fine is £5,000.

Front 23

What happens if a breach occurs after a trial has begun?

Back 23

A media organisation may also become liable for huge costs under section 93 of the Courts Act 2003.

Front 24

When do section 8 restrictions cease to apply?

Back 24

- If a sole defendant requests it (if there are two defendants, then both have to agree but if they don't then magistrates will decide on the basis of justice). A defendant might want restrictions lifted so they can publicise for witnesses to come forward to help corroborate an alibi.

Note: Even if section 8 restrictions are limited, prejudicial material about the defendant if a jury trial could happen should be avoided.

2) If it becomes clear that an either-way charge becomes a summary case. Other restrictions however are put in place at pre-trial hearings if the defendant denies charge and chooses a summary hearing.

3) If magistrates feel there is insufficient evidence to commit a sole defendant or all the defendants in an either-way case for Crown court trial.

4) When proceedings against all defendants in the case have been concluded.

Front 25

What can reporters publish about relevant business information to do with fraud?

Back 25

- As part of section 11 of the Criminal Justice Act 1987, any address used by the defendant for carrying on business on his/her own account.

- The name of the business at 'any relevant time', that is, when events which gave rise to the charge(s) occurred

- The name and address of any firm in which they were a partner, or by which they were engaged, at any such time.

- The name of any company of which they were a director, or by which they were otherwise engaged, at any such time, and the address of its registered or principal office

- Any working address of the defendant in their capacity as a person engaged by any such company ('engaged' means under a contract of service or a contract for services).

Front 26

When is a pre-trial hearing defined as?

Back 26

The Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 defines a pre-trial hearing as any hearing at a Crown court before a guilty plea is accepted (that is, before it becomes clear there will be no trial) or, in cases which remain contested, all hearings which occur before a jury is sworn or before the beginning of a 'preparatory' hearing in the case.

Front 27

When are automatic reporting restrictions in section 41 in play in regard to pre-trial hearings?

Back 27

Before the conclusion of all proceedings in the case, of what is said in a 'pre-trial hearing' in

- Applications for rulings on the admissibility of evidence or any other question of law, including any rulings made by the judge;

- Applications for such a ruling to be varied or discharged, including any order made.

Front 28

Describe a case study where reporting restrictions were successfully lifted at a pre-trial hearing.

Back 28

In 2010, the media argued that reporting restrictions covering a pre-trial appeal should be lifted. The case concerned three MPs and a peer charged with fiddling parliamentary expenses. A pre-trial issue was whether 'parliamentary privilege' protected them from prosecution. The Crown court judge ruled it did not, and allowed this pre-trial ruling to be published contemporaneously. The defendants appealed against the ruling to the Court of Appeal, which agreed - at the media's request - to lift the reporting restrictions in section 37 of the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 to allow contemporaneous publication of submissions made in the appeal and the court's decision upholding the Crown court ruling. Explaining the decision to lift the restrictions, the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, said the appeal had nothing to do with whether the defendants were dishonest but were 'confined to narrow but important issue of constitutional law'. So he said, there was no realistic prospect that a future trial of the defendants might be prejudiced by the lifting of the reporting restrictions. (R v Chaytor and others [2010] EWCA Crim 1910).

Front 29

If the prosecution appeals against a ruling made by the Crown court, what restrictions are put on the reporter?

Back 29

- According to the Criminal Justice Act 2003, the appeal would terminate all or part of the case, irrespective of what stage the case is at when the ruling is made. Section 71 of the Act, intended to prevent prejudice to the trial, or any linked trial, automatically bans reporting of any Crown court discussion (which, if the trial has begun, would be in the jury's absence) about such an appeal. It also restricts reports of the Court of Appeal hearing, and any further appeal made to the Supreme Court, to the same seven categories of information allowed under the automatic reporting restrictions. These restrictions apply, unless lifted earlier, until the conclusion of all trials in the case.

Front 30

How should a reporter report on an arraignment?

Back 30

- IF defendants plead guilty to each charge they are convicted of all charges in the case and so the restrictions cease to apply, as there will be no trial.

- If a sole defendant or all defendants deny the charge, or all charges, at the arraignment, the media can safely report on those pleas contemporaneously if there is be just one trial in the case.

- If a defendant or co-defendants enter a mixture of guilty and non-guilty, or if denied charges are to be dealt with in more than one trial, a judge may make an order under section 4 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 postponing publication of that information. For example, a judge could ban media reports of an arraignment from mentioning, until the trial ends, any charge which has been admitted (if the jury is not to be told about it) or - if the case will involve more than one trial - any charge not due to be dealt with in the first trial. Or the judge could us section 4 to ban any reporting of the arraignment, and of the first trial until any further trial in the case is concluded.

Front 31

What is the procedure on reporting at Crown court trials?

Back 31

- The media may publish contemporaneous, full reports of what the jury is told at a Crown court trial once it has started, as long as any discretionary reporting restriction or any automatic anonymity for a complainant of a sexual offence is complied with.

Note: Until the jury has returned all verdicts in the trial, no report should include (unless a judge says otherwise) any ruling, discussion or argument which occurs while the jury is not in the courtroom.