COURT REPORTING AND LEGAL ETHICS
By
NOOR ALAM KHAN
Advocate Supreme Court of Pakistan &
Chairman, Voice of Prisoners
Member KPK Bar Council,
The media be it the print or electronic has
played a vital role in shaping our democracy as it stands today. Freedom of
press has perpetually been a cherished right in all democracies and is an
indispensable element in the working of a modern nation. Growth and development
of representative democracy is entwined with growth of press to such an extent
that the press has come to be recognized as an institutional limb of modern
democracy.
Each state or territory has a code of
professional conduct dictating rules of ethics. These may be adopted by the
respective state legislatures and/or judicial systems.
Legal ethics encompasses an ethical code
governing the conduct of persons and participate engaged in the profession of
law and all the persons involved in Court proceedings as well.
Court reporting is very crucial to all
judicial proceedings. Reporting on Court hearings is an essential part of
journalism. It requires an understanding of local laws and knowing what can be
reported and what can't.
Nowadays the issue of restrictions on the
reporting of details in Court cases has been the subject of some debate in our
country, with issues ranging from TV cameras in Court through to anonymity and
even super injunctions.
Journalism in free speech democracies or
countries striving to be – share some universal principles those are applicable
across all similar social and political systems. These include the pursuit of
truth, the valuing of objectivity, the principle of fairness and the practice
of accuracy. But despite increasing globalisation,
every society is still distinct. Each has its own unique history, time-honoured cultures and national identity. The practice of
journalism must adapt to these factors, just as seeds flourish differently in
different soils.
Apart from media trial of the high-profile
criminal cases media has been playing an active role in other areas as well. It
would be no exaggeration to say that the coverage of natural calamities by the media
within Pakistan or outside, like flood and earthquakes have been instrumental
in evoking humanitarian instinct among the people across the globe to be united
to contribute open heartedly for relief of the affected people. Had there been
no media coverage people would not have visualized the extent.
As with all material in The News Manual, it
is the duty of a responsible journalist, to decide what requires to the
prevailing circumstances and what does not.
It is worth remembering that ultimately every
person and every institution is the custodian of his/its own reputation and
integrity. If we do not guard our reputation the Honourable people of
Reporters rely heavily on sources, as well as
first hand observation, in Court reporting. The most common sources are:
1. Lawyers
- prosecutors and defence counsel;
2. Police
Media Unit, police stories;
3. Court
staff - police, bailiffs, clerk of the Court, judge's associates;
4. Court
lists from daily newspapers or internet;
5. Informants
or tip/offs; and
6. Other
journalists in Court and other media.
If ordinary law-abiding people are to feel
that their society is strong enough to protect them from criminals, then they
have to have such a system of law enforcement which they feel confident about.
Society needs journalists to attend Court
cases and to report exactly what happens there - who is accused of what, what
evidence is brought for the prosecution and for the defence,
what the Court's decision is, and so on. Society's confidence in the legal
system depends upon people being informed about what is going on. That is part
of the journalist's job, and it is a vital one. It is a job which needs to be
done responsibly.
The Courts are there to act on behalf of
ordinary people, so it is important that they carry out their business in
public, for all to see.
It is a vital principle that Justice must not only be done, but it
must seen to be done. In other words, Courts have to do the right
thing, and the public have to see and understand that they do so.
Reporters are members of the public, and so
are the readers or listeners they represent. Reporters therefore have the right
to attend Court cases, and a duty to be there whenever possible on behalf of
their readers and listeners who cannot be there
Print media have a long history of covering Courts,
sharing the Courts' media rooms and dedicating one reporter to the round. Radio
and television on the other hand tend to send reporters on a more ad-hoc basis,
when a 'good' story is expected in Court. Knowing what's in a day's Court
line-up will usually come from police stories (earlier arrests) and police
tip-offs as well as other sources like lawyers.
Print journalists often therefore have a
great 'ownership' of the round that they nurture and cover systematically which
allows them to develop sources within the Courts and often form positive
working relationships.
Covering the Courts is one of the most
challenging and fascinating beats at any news operation, one rich with human
drama. The Courtroom, after all, is very much like a stage in which the actors
- the accused, the attorneys, the judge and jury - all have their roles to
play.
Our Constitution provides freedom of speech
to every citizen under Article 19 which is reproduced herein below.
19.
Freedom of Speech, etc.
Every citizen shall have the right to freedom
of speech and expression, and there shall be freedom of the press, subject to
any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of the glory of
Islam or the integrity, security or defence of
Pakistan or any part thereof, friendly relations with foreign States, public
order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of Court, commission of
or incitement to an offence
No State tolerates absolute freedom of
expression. There are reasonable restrictions to curtail this right. All States
operate codes, which demarcate boundaries on the content published and
broadcasted by the media. What freedom can notes and
what confinements should apply to is a never-ending political debate. This
freedom can be restricted if the restriction imposed has the authority of law
to support it.
Freedom of the press, like any other
fundamental rights, cannot be curtailed by executive order or administrative
instructions, which lack the sanction of law. The law must also fall squarely
within one or more head of permissible restrictions specified the legislature
to impose reasonable restriction on free speech whereby there is any utterances
intended to endanger the security of the State or if it tends to jeopardize the
friendly relation of Pakistan with other nations, or in interest of public
order maintaining decency and morality, or if there is a contempt of Court as
described under Contempt of Court Act or for defamation , or on a person
prohibiting him from making statements that incites people to commit an offence
or on a person making statement that challenge the integrity and sovereignty of
Pakistan or preaches secession.
This brings us to the question of media
trial. We need to re-examine the question of media reporting in a sub-judice matter and more so when a case is still being
investigating. So far as the law on the subject is concerned it is not very
developed.
On
"This Suo Moto
case was initiated on
It is indeed sad that the people of
The ethic and legal framework of the media
requires fairness and objectivity; it requires that journalists conduct due
diligence before; reporting any news so that rumours
and insinuations are filtered out, particularly in matters of grave
significance such as ones arising in this case. Even when they have come across
a particular information, fair conduct requires it is
checked and rechecked”.
It is not necessary that in every case,
accused will be identified but the investigation cannot be shady. Media trial
cannot adjudicate the accused; and action should be taken against erring
investigating agency/officials. During high publicity Court cases the media if
often accused of provoking an atmosphere of public hysteria akin to a lynch mod, which not only makes a fair trial nearly impossible
but also cause irreparable, irreversible and incalculable harm to the
reputation of a person and shunning of his family, relatives and friends by the
society.
Another issue is that of sting operations.
The press is conducting sting operations on the cases which are pending before
the Court of law, and trying to interfere in the administration of justice. By
conducting the sting operations it affects the rights to privacy of an
individual. By telecasting the sting video on the TV channels the reputation of
a person in the society will be effected. There are instance in such a
situation the person may feel guilty and can thing of committing suicide.
What has been stated above, following points
are needs to be give priority while making Court reporting:--
1. Court
Reporting firms/reporters must follow the formatting rules of their State.
2. Court
Reporting firms/reporters must comply with employment laws set for reporters in
their State.
3. Court
Reporting firms/ reporters should not assist in deposition or trial strategy
for one side or other in the deposition.
4. Court
Reporting firms/reporters should not make their entire transcript databases
available to clients' law firms for the purposes of data mining.
5. Court
Reporting firms should strive to achieve diversity in their hiring.
6. Court
Reporting firms/reporters will be committed to the integrity and impartiality
of the Court reporting profession.
7. If
an unforeseen situation arises that is not addressed by the Code of Professional
Ethics, the reporter should
8. A
reporter must be fair and impartial toward which participants
9. A
reporter must never provide comparable services to the parties in a proceeding
10. If
the reporter detects that there may be a conflict of interest
11. A
conflict of interest may include even merely the appearance of a conflict of
interest
12. The
reporter must guard against not only the fact but the appearance of being in a
bad mood
13. If
there is not only the fact but the appearance of impropriety
14. The
reporter must preserve the confidentiality and ensure the security of
15. It
is a violation of the Code of Professional Ethics if a reporter lies about his/her
qualifications either in advertising or public statements
16. An
official reporter must never perform freelance reporting activities
17. If
an official reporter takes a freelance deposition, which function takes precedence
18. The
reporter has the lawful right to determine fees independently
19. The
freelance reporter has a right to offer gifts or incentives to any client in
any amount
20. A
reporter can only give a gift or incentive if the item does not exceed which
amount total per each recipient
The civil society consist of Judges, lawyers,
scholars and intellectuals and the media should play as a vigilant, but it can
jeopardize the justice through deficient or saturated reporting. Therefore, the
media must appraise of all aspect of the case. One sided reporting may abstract
on the way of justice.
The right of utter honest and reasonable
criticism on matters of public concern is a source of strength to the
community, and the press being a powerful medium of mass communication should
be free to play its role. Denial of freedom of the press to citizens would
necessarily undermine its power to influence public opinion and run counter to
the principles of democracy itself. Thus, on one hand the media needs to play
the role of an investigator and unnerve the truth and one the other portray the role of a catalyst in order to ensure speedy
justice.
So, the electronic and print media should
also play a positive role in presenting to general public as to what actually
transpire during the Court of hearing and it should not be published in such a
manner so as to get unnecessary publicity for its own paper or news channel.
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