Publicity and Fair Trial
| Date | 01 January 1950 |
| Published date | 01 January 1950 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002201835001400107 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Publicity
and
Fair
Trial
Toachieve
the
principal object of
the
Irish
Criminal
Justice Bill, 1949, which is to reduce
the
amount
of
time spent on
the
preliminary investigation of indictable
offences,
it
is provided
not
only
that
the
procedure in
such cases is
to
be shortened,
but
also
that
the
Justices
are
to
have amuch extended jurisdiction for
the
summary
trial of such offences. Of
the
additional powers granted
to
these Courts,
that
which aroused most objection was
the
power
not
only
to
hold
the
trial in camera,
but
also
to
prohibit
the
publication of
an
account of
the
proceedings,
or
part
of them, if
the
Court considered
it
to
be
in
the
interests of
the
accused or of public morality.
In
the
Irish
Constitution as originally enacted in 1937,
it
was
provided simply
that"
Justice shall be administered in
Courts established
by
law
by
judges appointed
in
the
manner provided
by
this Constitution
and
shall be adminis-
tered
in
public". This provision was, however, soon
thought
to be unworkable
and
an
amendment was therefore passed
to
introduce
the
excepting
clause:
"save
in
such special
and limited cases as may be prescribed by law". As
the
proposal contained
in
the
Bill
has
given rise to public
controversy
not
only in
the
Legislature
but
elsewhere,
it
is to
be
noted
that
the
power which
it
is proposed to confer
on
the
Courts is quite different from
that
introduced
by
the
English Judicial Proceedings (Regulation of Reports)
Act, 1926.
That
Act prohibits
the
publication of "
any
indecent
matter
or indecent medical
matter"
in relation
to
the
report of a
trial;
but
one
may
report
the
trial,
subject to
the
risk of another Court's finding
such
publi-
cation to be an infringement of
the
Act. This provision
was introduced into Irish
Law
by
s. 14 of
the
Censorship
of Publications Act, 1929.
But
the
power proposed in
the
Criminal Justice Bill, 1949, is, however,
that
the
trial
court
shall itself judge of
this
matter
in advance, within
its absolute discretion,
and
thereby effectively
ban
publi-
cation.
93
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