The Gazette 1995

GAZETTE

1995

MAY/JUNE

N E W S

Cameras in the Supreme Court - History in the Making

CAMERAS IN THE SUPREME COURT The Supreme Court in session at the start of the hearing to test the constitutionality of the Abortion Information Bill. From left: Mr. Justice Blaynev; Mr. Justice O'Flaherty; the Chief Justice, Mr. Justice Hamilton; Mr. Justice Egan and Mrs. Justice Denham. Photograph courtesy of the Irish Times.

Chief Justice and, because of the importance of the case, he agreed to allow cameras in to film the entry of the judges. We were also able to get a few pictures of solicitors and counsel before the judges came into court, but, as soon as the judges sat down, we had to leave." Kieron, who's in his final year of study for the Bar, added: "I hope very much that this is just the beginning of a trend which will see more televised court proceedings. I accept that there are very real concerns that television cameras might interfere with the administration of justice, but I think that those can be addressed by the advisory committee which the Law Reform Commission has recommended should be set up to advise the Minister for Justice on this issue". "It's clearly a matter which should be approached sensitively and carefully, but I believe that, at the end of the day, justice should not only be done, but be seen to be done."

occasion, judges have - almost without exception - refused permission for the making of television recordings for non-judicial purposes. In the past four years, the nearest RTE news came to televising the courts was a broadcast of the former Chief Justice, Mr Justice Finlay, with judges from Northern Ireland, presiding over a law students' moot court in the Supreme Court. RTE has also broadcast pictures of the interiors of the Four Courts (the Supreme Court, the High Court, the Round Hall) with nobody present. A report was also transmitted which included an interview with senior counsel in an empty High Court (on the subject of televising the courts). RTE's legal affairs correspondent, Kieron Wood, who organised the pictures of the Supreme Court, said: "For some time, I've been anxious to open up the courts to the public, to let them see how justice is done in their name. On this occasion, I spoke to the

History was made on April 4 when an RTE television camera was allowed into the Supreme Court for the opening of the constitutional challenge to the Abortion Information Bill. It was the first time that a TV camera had been allowed to film a sitting Irish court. The pictures were subsequently used on RTE's 6.01 and 9 o'clock television bulletins. Ireland has no statutory provisions relation to the making of vision recordings in court. In this respect, it is unlike England and Wales, where the 1925 Criminal Justice Act makes it a criminal offence to attempt to take any photograph in court. (The Act was passed 11 years before the first public television service began.) In Ireland, it is a matter for the judge in each individual case to decide whether such activity should be allowed.

While sketch artists have been permitted to operate in Irish courts on

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