Of Counsel Maia Cohen-Lask has jointly authored an article with Kramer Levin’s Dayna Chikamoto examining the different approaches to UK and US media reporting in criminal trials.
“In England and Wales, court reports will be mostly limited to a summary of the evidence given that day, often by way of verbatim quotes, from journalists keen not to accidentally fall on the wrong side of the strict liability rule by inserting comment. By contrast, in the US, as seen with the Theranos trial, court reporting while the trial is ongoing might include opinion pieces as to the strength of the evidence, or interviews with legal experts about the prospects of success of lines of defence. Faced with this heightened level of public engagement and debate, the US court will utilise alternative measures to protect the right to a fair trial, and it is not uncommon in high-profile cases for judges to instruct juries not to consume media related to the trial.”
One area of particularly marked distinction between the jurisdictions is in the reporting of pre-trial rulings.”
Read the full article published in Solicitors Journal here.