Defence plea to keep TV out of court

Chief Scottish Political Correspondent

Wednesday 3 October 2012

TOP defence lawyers have attacked the idea of televising criminal trials, claiming it would lead to the excesses of the OJ Simpson case in the US.

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ROBBIE DINWOODIE CHIEF SCOTTISH POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT

Criminal defence lawyer Aamer Anwar, whose clients have included MSP Tommy Sheridan and acquitted Glasgow "ice-cream wars" accused TC Campbell, said allowing television cameras into court would lead to the "Hollywoodisation" of the justice system.

Meanwhile, Donald Findlay, QC, said televising trials would "drive a coach and four" through the rights of the accused to a fair trial in which a jury should reach its findings solely on the evidence led in court.Another impact of technology on the courts is the way anyone can now do internet searches, leading to jurors being tempted to research previous convictions. Both advocates insisted this must be strongly cautioned against, with jurors being told clearly that breaching this could bring their imprisonment.However, the other side of the case for modernisation was also argued at Holyrood's Justice Committee. It was considering the role of the media in criminal courts in the context of changes in technology and social media.Alastair Bonnington, former lawyer to the BBC, defended the idea of televised trials and cautioned against a rush to legislation because of new phenomena, because any attempt to legislate for "Twitter would see someone invent 'Twongle' which would not be covered".The other strong supporter of televised courts was Steven Raeburn, of legal magazine The Firm, who said it was a logical extension of justice being seen to be done, the public's right to attend trials, and the long- standing right of journalists to cover proceedings.But he acknowledged there was a problem with technology in the hands of amateurs who did not know contempt laws and who acted as "journalists, editors and broadcasters".Mr Anwar said: "Contempt of court is essential. It needs to be extended and rigorously updated to take account of technological advances. Otherwise we're going to have a rush to get the cameras into court."With the greatest respect to the media saying they have a genuine interest, your genuine interest is not concern for justice. Your genuine interest is getting the cameras in there and opening the floodgates to the Hollywoodisation of our courts."Mr Findlay, chairman of the Faculty of Advocates' Criminal Bar Association, who has represented mass murderer Peter Tobin, said there was a "crying need" for regulation of bloggers and social media commentators and tough sanctions against jurors who looked up past convictions on the internet against the orders of judges.Mr Findlay said: "There are people who write what I am reliably informed are blogs, or diaries of some kind. You can't find them, you can't locate them but they can put on the internet 'This man on trial today has 43 previous convictions. He's a villain, he's a rogue, he's a charlatan. He's done this before. It's your job to convict him'."Apparently there is nothing we can do about it and the media will shrug their shoulders and say 'that's the way it is'. There is a crying need for regulation at the hands of this Parliament to preserve the justice system, that I think is important to us all, much more than the media's ability to cover criminal trials."However, Mr Bonnington claimed Scotland's contempt of court laws were already among the most restrictive in Europe.He cited a judge's comment that "juries are healthy bodies, they do not need a germ-free atmosphere", adding: "There may be greater risks today but it remains the case that a jury listening to the day's proceedings is far more likely to be influenced by what they heard in court than reading a very un-satisfactory newspaper report."

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Defence plea to keep TV out of court

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