How to report on a UK court case
Local journalists are often called the “eyes and ears of the public”. But with their numbers shrinking every year, the public must open its own eyes and ears to stay vigilant about British crime amid the decline of courtroom journalism.
Few people know that all members of the public must be granted access to a court hearing, but with the growth of online reporting and civilian journalism, it is inevitable that more curious people will want to venture into these legal institutions and take on the roles once held by court reporters.
Reports found in 2016 that courtroom coverage of regional UK papers had decreased by around 40%. Top legal officials warn that social media reports are taking over professional journalism, with civilians lacking proper training often stepping up to the task.
A larger issue is also at stake. Without journalism, the public lacks a narrative as to how judges decided to administer justice to the populace. The law becomes a disembodied, inaccessible entity, and the stories of those caught in its gears often go untold.
The below is an amateur's guide to covering a UK courtroom. This article is not intended to encourage untrained individuals to report and publish complex legal hearings. It is only intended to serve as a rough guide to those interested in attending a court hearing and to help aspiring reporters.
If you feel unsure about anything in the article and unconfident on reporting in general, it may be better for you to attend court hearings with a pen and paper to take notes but without the intention of publishing anything. The practise will help familiarise you to the reporting process and give you a better understanding of how to behave in a courtroom.
Having said that, if you feel a burning urge to report on a case with the intention of publishing or at least sending the copy to a publisher, please take heed of some of the advice below, and do as much of your own research as possible.
The following applies to UK courtrooms in England and Wales.
What you need to know about courts
The first thing to know is that the UK has two main criminal courts: The Magistrate’s Court and the Crown Court.
The Magistrate’s Court is the first port of call for a criminal trial. It is used for summary offences: less serious crimes such as motoring incidents, driving while disqualified or common assault.
There are no judges in the Magistrates Court, only - as the name suggests - magistrates; volunteers who come in pairs of three and are sometimes joined by a district judge (a judge in training.)
If the crime is an indictable offence, such as rape, murder or kidnapping, it will go to the Crown Court, which has three tiers and includes a judge and a jury.
Sometimes an offence will be classed as an ‘either way’ offences which can be heard in the Magistrates' Court or the Crown Court, depending on what the defendant (or more likely, the defendant’s lawyer) prefers.
Then there are civil courts, which house the majority of court cases, and have only a judge but no jury. These involve family disputes, dissolution of civil partnerships, childcare arrangements and personal injury cases.
It is vital you understand what kind of case you're going to be reporting on and in which court it will end up. Otherwise, you might waste time better spent on preparing your article.
What you can’t do
Family courts and juvenile hearings are not open to members of the public, although qualified journalists are allowed to attend family court hearings in special cases. Check on the court website as to which hearings are taking place. A notice board should also advertise which hearings are taking place outside most courtrooms.
This may be obvious to most, but you cannot put your hand up and ask questions during the court case. Your best bet is to take notes quietly and wait till after the jury has left and the session is closed before approaching the clerk of the court, who has the most information and is usually the most available to speak about the case.
It is illegal for you to talk to the jurors. Speaking to the defendants or the judge is also likely to get you into trouble in a criminal hearing, which I will discuss below.
Criminal courts: contempt of court
There are many civilian journalists who have fallen afoul of contempt of court laws, most notably Tommy Robinson - who was famously handed a thirteen-month prison sentence after live streaming the sentencing of the Huddersfield grooming gang, the largest gang ever convicted for sex abuse in the United Kingdom.
Contempt of court involves many interweaving laws of which only a small section applies to journalism. Without going into the background of the case, the key thing to remember is that videoing or taking photos is not allowed “within the court parameters”, which is very loosely defined and relies on each individual court to decide where these parameters begin and end.
The safest bet is not to bring any photography or video equipment near the court, barring a phone or laptop. Taking photos or videos of anyone going in and out of the court is not advised.
You must also not talk to any of the jurors. This is the surest way to lead you to commit a strict liability offence, meaning that you may be charged under the contempt of court act.
Other things that can lead you to be criminally charged include:
Asking a juror about deliberations – i.e. why they came to their decision, as we have already discussed.
Reporting matters discussed in court when the jury were not present. (The judge may sometimes ask the jury to leave. When this happens, you cannot report anything which takes place.)
Revealing a defendant's identity when it is protected by a Section 11 order, which should be announced by the judge while in session. (Ask the clerk of the court, or when in doubt, keep the defendant anonymous - this is especially true for hearings involving sexual misconduct.)
Reporting on a trial when it is part of a series of hearings, the logic being that reporting on the decision a jury made in one trial could prejudice the decision of the jury in the next trial. (This is called section 4(2), and is what landed Tommy Robinson his prison sentence.)
Failing to give a balanced report of proceedings.
These restrictions only apply to criminal court hearings. When reporting on court cases that do not have a jury, you will be safe from committing the strict liability offences described above.
If in doubt, ring up the court after drafting your copy and ask what details about the case, the crime, and the identity of defendants you are allowed to publish.
Do not report anything about a criminal trial until you are sure the jury has given its final verdict and there are no upcoming trials involving the same case with a different jury upcoming.
To read more about contempt of court laws, follow this link.
Anonymity:
When reporting on an alleged crime where a person involved is accused of a sex offence - including female genital mutilation (FGM), trafficking (not necessarily sex trafficking), and voyeurism - the accuser is granted anonymity for life.
This applies even if the prosecution (person accusing someone of the crime) loses the court case, if the accuser has given verbal consent, or even if the court case does not end up happening. The accusation is enough to obtain anonymity, which goes away only when the person in question dies or they opt to grant written legal consent (a complex legal procedure which even experienced journalists are hesitant to undertake.)
I would strongly recommend not reporting on these types of cases unless you are employed as a court reporter. The article you write needs to be structured in such a way so that even friends and family will not be able to tell who the accuser is, and the penalties for breaking these restrictions are not worth the gain.
Other anonymity restrictions on reporting can be found here.
What you can do
Many magistrates and other staff members will be curious about court attendees and will likely be interested in your note taking. Be as honest as you can about your interest in the case, but also do not be afraid to ask questions about the general court proceedings. Let them know you are an aspiring reporter and want to know more about the workings of the court. Most will be happy to talk to you and it is an excellent way to gather additional information about a case.
You are likely to meet other journalists, too, who can prove useful contacts. Be willing to swap business cards or LinkedIn information as most journalists are sympathetic to those starting out in what is a notoriously competitive career.
Tweeting:
Although you cannot record, take photos or videos, Tweeting is acceptable in the courtroom. You can also take a laptop in with you and a bottle of water, although the judge may ask you put it by your feet.
General tips:
As with all stories, it is vital that you learn as much about the case you are reporting on as possible before showing up to the courtroom. You may be questioned by staff as to why you want to sit in on the court case, or by magistrates afterward, and - while you have a complete legal right to be the no matter the reason, it helps to be well informed.
If questioned, you may want to carry business cards as identification or produce a lanyard with your photo and job title. This can simply say “Freelance reporter” and doesn’t require you to get any type of special license.
Obey the judge:
It should go without saying that both journalists on the press bench and attendees on the public must do what the judge tells them.
If you’ve brought a laptop with you and the judge asks you to put it away, that’s the final say on the matter. Always bring a notebook and pen with you so you can resort to longhand in case this happens.
Taking notes:
Taking accurate notes is what separates a journalist from someone reporting hearsay. Getting an accurate quote protects you against most legal proceedings. Get it wrong though, and you opening yourself up to being discredited or even sued. (Read more about UK libel law here.)
There are several ways to ensure accurate quote-taking in the real world, but in the courtroom, your options are limited.
In a UK courtroom, it is illegal to video, record, or even illustrate anywhere within the court premises as part of the 1925 criminal justice act. This includes using phone recordings, transcription apps, and even drawing the courtroom. And if you’re remembering court sketches you’ve seen on the news of alleged criminals appearing in court - those are exclusively drawn from memory in the UK.
This is one of the main reasons that journalists learn shorthand before covering court cases. It’s quicker than longhand, more reliable than using a laptop, and has the added benefit that no one can see what you’re writing.
The most commonly used shorthand is Teeline, which is quicker to learn and more consistent than Gregg shorthand or Pitman shorthand, two types traditionally used more by doctors or secretaries. Most local papers require their journalists to have at least 100 words per minute (wpm) - also known as the gold standard - before setting foot in the courtroom.
Although an invaluable skill if you’re serious about journalism, shorthand is difficult to practice without supervision. It takes constant practice to keep up to scratch. Parliamentary reporters are required to learn at least 150wpm before producing Hansard, the UK Parliament script which allows journalists to safely report everything which is said in parliament.
Because of this difficulty, many people will find touch typing preferable. This is easier to practice at home, as most people own a keyboard, and takes weeks instead of months to master.
Accessing court information:
Crown Court lists may be accessed over the internet from CourtServe. Magistrates’ Courts lists are available from the court offices of the court in question, and are subject to a 1989 Home Office circular that “encourages justices’ clerks to meet reasonable requests by the media for copies of court”.
You are better off asking the clerk of the court politely rather than citing legislation at them. Most are very willing to help.
When in doubt as to what structure your report should look like, find a similar case reported by the BBC, the UK Guardian or the Telegraph and follow their style. Look up cases reported by your local media outlets too, as they are most likely to be covering cases from the same courtroom you attend.
The following are some of the best resources available for starting out as a court reporter.