Chris Horrie on Court Reporting - The Basics

To the left is Chris Horrie's essential law of articles.

Basically, the more interesting a story is, the less likely it is to be true. There are plenty of stories that will be amazingly interesting - just not so true. Then you have the other side of the story, there is plently of stories that hold nothing but 100% truth - yet they're boring and no one wants to read them.

This is where court reporting helps us journo's out. Don't get me wrong, there are stories out there that are interesting and are true... but they can be hard to find. Court reporting however, is often interesting, and normally true.

Unfortunately, before you go to a court of law and start writing about everything you see, you need to know the law - what you can write, when you can write it, how you can write it and what you can include.

To start off, there are different divisions of law - the main two being criminal and civil.

Civil law -  disputes between individuals or organisations, for instance; divorce. In a civil matter, the defendant/respondent can not be sent to jail. However, if a person does not comply with the ruling at the end of a civil case, it could be classed as contempt of court which is a criminal matter. Civil matters can be tried in Magistrates courts, County courts or various tribunals. Tribunals are not courts, do not confuse them. In civil court, a claimant sues a defendant or respondent, who admits or denies liability, and is found either liable or not liable. If liable, the defendant will be ordered to pay damages.

Criminal law - an offence against a person and/or the community, for instance; murder. In a criminal matter, the defendant can be sent to jail, but it is not a certainty that he or she will be. Criminals matters always start in Magistrates court but can move to another court if deemed necessary. They can also be tried at Crown courts and a Supreme Court, but usually only after the case has been to Magistrates court. In criminal court, a defendant will be prosecuted, pleads guilty or not guilty and will be convicted or acquitted, and if convicted, fined or jailed.

With all this talk of courts, I thought I'd lay out which courts and for which cases.

• Magistrates court - civil and criminal.
• County court - civil.
• Crown court - criminal.
• High court - family, chancery, Queen's Bench (civil and criminal).
• Court of Appeal - civil division, criminal division.
• Supreme court - civil and criminal.

In any of these courts, if you comprise a case or do not adhere to the final ruling, you can be in contempt of court. This is a criminal offence and can be punished with a jail sentence. The greatest risk of the media committing contempt of court is publishing material that may prejudice a fair trial by influencing jurors to think badly of the defendant whilst the case is active.

A case is considered active when;

• a person is arrested,
• an arrest warrant is issued,
• a summons is issued or
• a person is charged orally.

When a case is active, you have to be incredibly careful about what you write, right down to the little details. If you are not experienced in court reporting, it is best to leave the writing to experts until the case is closed or you have gained enough experience.

There are different stages for a prosecution of a crime. The sequence is usually as follows:

1. Police suspect a crime has taken place, gather evidence and make an arrest.
2. Police can detain people for maximum of 24 hours, unless the case is related to terrorism, for which they can detain he or she for 92 days. The police may also apply for an extension of the 24 hours if necessary. After this process, the must make arrangements for court and the suspect may be released on bail if the police deem it appropriate. If the police think that suspect is a serious danger to society and will commit another crime if allowed bail, the police can hold them on remand.
3. The criminal trial will start at a Magistrates court. There is no jury at a Magistrates court, which means serious crime, (carrying a prison sentence of five years or more, for instance, murder), can not be judged there. The case will have to be sent for trial at a Crown court. There would be no evidence given, just proceedings. Minor crimes, (for instance, an unpaid parking ticket), can be tried at the Magistrates court. Three magistrates in the court can hear evidence, decide on the verdict and impose penalties. This can be appealed by the defendant to take to the Crown court. This is called summary justice.
4. Some crimes are considered "either way" offences. An either way offence is a case that can be tried before a Magistrates court or a Crown court. The accused can opt for a "jury trial" at the Crown court or opt for summary justice.

A case is considered closed when;

• the arrested person is released without charge - except on bail,
• no arrest was made within 12 months of the issue of an arrest warrant,
• the case is discontinued,
• the defendant is acquitted or sentenced,
• the defendant is found to be unfit to be tried, or unfit to plead, or the courts orders the charge to lie on file.

There is a defence for contempt of court which is as follows;

In the event of a publication being unaware that a case is active, there is a defence available. The defence applies if the person responsible for the publication, having taken all reasonable care, did not know and had no reason to suspect when the matter was published, that relevant proceedings were active.
The burden of proof in this instance is on the person being accused on contempt.

When a case is closed, you can write about it - as long as you're 100% certain everything you're writing is fact. For instance, if you're in court and the defendant says "I wasn't at the house that night.", you can take it as fact. What the defendant is saying may not be true but it is fact that the defendant said it. The media is allowed to print every word that is said in court.

Part II coming soon.