newspaper printed my name in court appearance

Panda Bear

Does anyone know if a local paper are allowed to print your name and address and every word of your statement.

I was forced to appear in a very sensitive case against my will and our local paper printed my Name and Address and everything I said.

I now fearful of reprisals or hate mail or other forms of intimidation
Has anyone of you ever been arrested and forced to apear in court following you have given a statement 2 year ago.


experience or opinions welcom please

cogITere

Unfortunately they are, once the statement is made in open court and there are no specific orders from the Judge preventing them!

Select any local paper, from any region, and you will often find more than one page, if not the entire paper, filled with the court appearances and the judgments were relevant.

A local paper needs only to report on the local court appearances & local sport to sell!

Panda Bear

Is this true even when it compromises the person or is it up to the journalist ( if you could call them such ) to excercise moral judgement or must they truely report everything ? your thought are welcome.

r14

It is true. Defamation Act 2009, s 17(2)(i).

"it shall be a defence to a defamation action for the
defendant to prove that the statement in respect of which the action
was brought was—
(i) a fair and accurate report of proceedings publicly heard
before, or decision made public by, any court—
(i) established by law in the State, or
(ii) established under the law of Northern Ireland"

Even if you could prove some tangible harm once the paper can show they were just publishing an acurate report of the court proceedings they would have a good defence.

Remember justice must be done in public (subject to some limited exceptions) and reporting on court proceedings is just an element of this so it would be quite hard to succeed in a claim.

Panda Bear

If it be the cause that information be made public can the judge rule that it should not be printed and only be privy to those in the court that day as the court I accept is a public place.

In this country can we not be assured that the law is done until those willing to give statement and evidence are protected or will it all end in a shamble of "I cannot recall "or "I dont remember"

when does it become public knowledge to everyone, even those who did not attend. What are the limits and constraint that may be applied

Tom Young

The 2009 Defamation Act is not in force. Courts are held in public and reports are, as they are, in public.

Reloc8

Panda Bear wrote: »

If it be the cause that information be made public can the judge rule that it should not be printed and only be privy to those in the court that day as the court I accept is a public place.

Nope

Panda Bear wrote: »

In this country can we not be assured that the law is done until those willing to give statement and evidence are protected or will it all end in a shamble of "I cannot recall "or "I dont remember"

Don't understand the question if this is a question.

Panda Bear wrote: »

when does it become public knowledge to everyone, even those who did not attend. What are the limits and constraint that may be applied

No limits in a case like this. No contraints in a place like this. Becomes public whenever the public hear about it.

Panda Bear wrote: »

Is this true even when it compromises the person or is it up to the journalist ( if you could call them such ) to excercise moral judgement or must they truely report everything ? your thought are welcome.

The journalist can print whatever they want. It becomes defamatory only if it is not a fair and accurate account of the proceedings.

r14

Tom Young wrote: »

The 2009 Defamation Act is not in force. Courts are held in public and reports are, as they are, in public.

True but it codifies the existing position very well. Easier to point to a bit of legislation as a guide than to start quoting case law - especially as we're not allowed give legal advice.

Tom Young

r14 wrote: »

True but it codifies the existing position very well. Easier to point to a bit of legislation as a guide than to start quoting case law - especially as we're not allowed give legal advice.

True.