2 Comments
Posted in:

Report From Ontario Panel on Justice and the Media

by
More posts by Connie »

Today’s headlines include stories about the possibility of cameras coming to Ontario courtrooms. This is a result of a press release released yesterday by the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General about the report received from the Ontario Panel on Justice and the Media established by Attorney General Michael Bryant back in January 2005. The Panel was created to help find ways to foster understanding between the media and the justice system. The full report is now available on the Ontario Ministry of Attorney General website. According to the Executive Summary, the Panel made 17 recommendations which cover the following areas:

Openness:
•access to court records;
•use of tape recorders;
•cameras in the courtroom;
•media facilities at the courthouse;
•media lock-ups;
•affordable access to court records.

Education:
•increasing knowledge across the two professions;
•public education.

Electronic Age:
•notification of publication bans;
•electronic access to court records;
•online media guide;
•public justice-media website.

Ongoing Activities:
•justice-media liaison committee;
•press conferences/public commentary;
•sub judice contempt rule and shield law.

The media, of course, has picked up on probably the most controversial recommendation, the addition of cameras to the courtroom to increase openness in the justice system.

Comments

  1. Simon C
    August 25th, 2006 at 12:08 pm

    Well I thought that the research portion fo the report was a bit thin, and wouldn’t have passed muster at most Law Reform Commissions.

    Slaw might be interested in one rec in its entirety:

    Recommendation #13: Public justice-media website
    The Panel recommends that the Ministry of the Attorney General and the justice-media committee (as described in Recommendation 14) should establish a public website to provide information on:
    •the roles of all participants in the justice system;
    •the structure of the justice system;
    •the media’s role in relation to the justice system;
    •hyperlinks to docket information and judgments of Ontario Courts;
    •public access to the justice system;
    •other learning tools as are already available on the Internet.

  2. Connie Crosby
    August 25th, 2006 at 12:12 pm

    Yes, we may see some nice benefits if the recommendations are carried out.