When reporting as a journalist you may have to report on a story involving a courthouse. Reporting to a court comes with restrictions that, if not respected, could lead to you breaking the law. If you break the law while reporting a case that is taking place in court, you could potentially be fined an amount depending on the severity of the law you break or possibly a prison sentence. In this essay I will look at the main restrictions placed on journalists when reporting from a court in the UK and why these have been put in place. The first law I will explain to you is Contempt of Court. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Judicial contempt of law protects the integrity of the legal process from outside influences. There are various types of possible reporting restrictions, some of which apply automatically while others are at the discretion of the court (BBC Academy, 2018). Contempt of court is the main law put in place to prevent journalists from influencing a case taking place in a court of law. This law was put in place to prevent journalists from influencing a jury during the case with what they publish in their form of journalism, be it print or media. Another example of contempt of court described by (BBC Academy, 2018) You can also commit contempt of court, for example, by interviewing a witness before a trial or even pressuring him to provide an interview after the trial. It is important not to break a contempt of court law as you could be fined for the crime you commit, an example of this comes from (Rawlinson, 2016) “The editor of GQ magazine was fined £10,000 after being found in contempt to court for an article that seriously threatened to undermine the computer hacking trial against Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. This was a case where the CEO of a newspaper was under investigation for breaking the law and ended up in court. During the trial, GQ published comments about Rebekah Brooks, the CEO in question, in an article that was published. The judge in the case felt that these remarks would prejudice the court case and decided to fine GQ magazine for the publication. Contempt of prosecution can come into force in court when court proceedings are 'active' as described by ( Contempt of Court Act 1981 Explained, Inbrief.co.uk) The CCA 1981 only applies where: a publication results in a substantial risk of seriously prejudicing justice in the proceedings and the proceedings are active. Criminal proceedings are generally active from the time of arrest without a warrant, issuance of a warrant or summons, service of an indictment, or oral charge, whichever comes first. The proceedings cease to be active with acquittal or sentence; any ruling that puts an end to ongoing proceedings; an interruption of the proceedings. (Contempt of Court Act 1981 Explained, Inbrief.co.uk) There are laws which are put in place at an early stage in cases which take place before magistrates and in court cases which may only allow journalists to report certain aspects of the case which is taking place in court. In most cases, the court can lift restrictions placed on the journalist reporting the case, however this is at the discretion of the court. There are many rules that automatically prevent journalists from reporting certain aspects of the case in early hearings, this applies to both the CrownCourt and the Magistrates Court. In the Judiciary, the rules apply and limit what can be reported at the preliminary hearing only in the case of charges and in both cases, as well as at preliminary hearings in cases involving summary offences. Issues such as bail and transfer to crown court are dealt with in these types of hearings (BBC Academy, 2018). In the Crown Court you need to be careful what you report as preliminary and preparatory hearings take place in the Crown Court. In this case, you need to be careful what you report during these hearings as they are held when the jury is not present and are used by the judge to decide what evidence to present to the jury. If you reported what was said during these hearings, you could potentially influence the jury and commit contempt of court. However, during pre-trial and preparatory hearings, journalists can report on: Name of the court where the case takes place. The judges overseeing the case. The charges brought. The lawyers involved in the trial. case. The names, addresses, ages and occupations of the defendants and witnesses. All of these restrictions put in place during cases in magistrates and crown courts are used to limit journalists from publishing any evidence or information that could influence a jury from information outside the court. An example of a media outlet potentially committing contempt of court during a preliminary or preparatory hearing and possibly in the middle of the trial is if the newspaper published an article talking about how the defendant had previously been convicted of same crime for which I am on trial. This information is usually withheld from the jury as previously stated, and if this article was read by a member of the jury it could influence them. In some cases, in court it is the children who committed the crime or were the victims of the crime. A child is anyone under the age of 18, and these cases are usually handled in juvenile courts. When reporting a case involving minors you need to be careful about how you report the case as they need to be treated differently to the way an adult would be processed. There are many restrictions on reporting cases involving children as described in (Reporting Legal Proceedings, Channel 4) Reports of proceedings in the Children's Court must not contain the name, address or school or any details which may lead to the identification of anyone under 18 years of age involved in the proceedings as a defendant or witness or contain a photograph showing such a minor. Adults involved in Children's Court proceedings may be identified provided that doing so does not identify any minors involved in the proceedings. These rules do not apply where a child has been committed to the Crown Court. Note that a juvenile court can lift these automatic restrictions in certain circumstances, but the child cannot opt ​​out of protection even if he or she actively wishes to be identified. Once a child involved in juvenile court proceedings reaches age 18, the reporting restrictions no longer apply. Journalists reporting from a court where sex offenders are being tried must exercise caution when reporting. Victims of sexual crime are granted lifelong anonymity, meaning that any report that could identify a victim of a sexual crime could lead to the journalist being punished. The law automatically confers anonymity on the victim of sexual crimes from the moment she or.