Law: Inside and Out

I thought that I would post an entire blog devoted to my revision cards on Law. If I have anything wrong please let me know. Also they may be helpful for other people too. I have all ready written a blog on definitions so I'll try not to repeat myself. In this blog I am hoping to address the key points of the most important parts of Journalism Law to study.

LIBEL

Libel is, a three point list, any of these may be done. They are: 1. defmamation - publish something about someone that defames them or slander. 2. identification - a particualr person is named, pictured or with jigsaw identification - put the facts out but when reading the article or watching the broadcast you can put together the facts and identify the one person. 3. Publication - this means that is going out to more than one person. If it is publicated on the internet, each time the site is viewed it is publicated again.

There are three defences for this. You only have to have one, although more would help your cause if you were ever in this position. 1. Justification - it is true and you can prove it. 2. Comment - It is in your opinion as the writer that what you have written is your opinion and not a fact. On the page of your article you must have comment or opinion. This was you can not be sued, with a reader presuming your opinion is a fact. 3. Qualified Privilege - this is when the comment has been said in court. If you are going to report on this it must be fair, fast and accurate. * The offended person doesn't have to show that they have been harmed but they do have to show that they have suffered.

COMMON LAW QUALIFIED PRIVILEGE

There is another form of qualified privilege which is, Common Law Qualified Privilege. This came about by the Clegg Case. I will provide links at the bottom so you can go into each case in more detail than what I am providing. The Clegg case is a soldier that stopped some drunken youths from driving in Northern Ireland. They gave him abuse and so he shot them thinking that they were terrorists. The 'Free Clegg Campaign' said that the solicitors prosecuting him were the IRA. This defamed the solicitors and so they sued the campaign group. Surprisingly the campaign group won. They won because the comment was made in a public meeting. It was publicated to a third party but it wasn't malice, it arose in a public meeting. There is also freedom of expression within this case. This is Common Law Qualified Privilege (CLQP).

The points for it be understood as CLQP are: 1. it is so important that the public need to hear about it. Whether you can prove it or not. 2. it has to be without malice, including everything you have ever written before.3. the facts must be accurate. Also, as an added extra there must be reasonable suspicion.

DEFAMATION
There is another 3 point list, however i think that you only need to have one of the following points to make it defamatory, not all of them, the same with the 3 point list for libel. They are: 1. the article/broadcast could expose someone to ridicule, contempt or hatred. 2. cause them to be shunned or avoided. 3. demeaning in their profession. The plaintiff has one year to gather their evidence, KEEP ALL YOUR NOTES for a minimum of this time.

CONFIDENTIALITY

If you are committing breach of contract you will be ticking these boxes: 1. quality of confidence, not just tittle tattle 2. it is imparted in circumstances implying confidentiality. 3. you will need authorisation to use it or you will be committing detriment - they must prove that they have been hurt by it. A case that fits in well is the Graham Pink case. He was nurse that worked for the NHS. He spoke to a newspaper but because of the gagging clause in his job contract he was fired. This was a breach of his contract and the NHS' confidentiality.

REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE ACT

This governs the way the elections are held. When broadcasting the channel must give equal air time to all parties over an amount of time. Yes this means allowing the BNP on the television too.

COPYRIGHT

We (journalists) exploit the law of copyright - it has to be news to be sold and it has to original to be copyrighted.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT

(FOIA) This is the right to obtain documents from companies. Simply phone the company and they must send you the relevant information that you have asked for.

PRIVACY - Article 8

Every person has the right to a normal family life. With privacy the best case to use would be Princess Carolina. The judge ruled that journalists cant take pictures of anyone unless they are given permission or if the person is doing a clear public duty. There are two types of consent: 1. you have to have explicit consent. This is written consent by the person in picture. 2. implicit consent - the area is likely to filmed or pictured. For example a live football match. There will definitely be cameras here. For an added point it is quite good to get the person to look into the camera. This way it will be shown on your rushes that they knew that the camera was there and that they were being filmed. If you film someone and they don't know this could be classed as subterfuge.

Subterfuge is when you are not honest. A journalist should always be upfront and tell the interviewee who they are, who they write for and their job. If this isn't done the person could sue. Rushes that are not known about by the interviewee will not be able to be used in court.

When on private land it isn't trespassing unless you have forced your way on to the grounds. There can also be no forced used when trying to escort you from the premises unless they think that you are going to commit a crime. This is thanks to the Tony Martin Law. The Tony Martin Law came about after the farmer with this name shot at two burglars that he found in his house. He was sentenced for man-slaughter after one of them men died of a shot in his back and the other was shot in the leg; he however only got sentenced a few years and recovered well.

Another case that can be used for privacy is the Max Mosley case. The News of The World reported that he had an orgy with 5 girls in a Nazi fashion. Interestingly he is the son of Oswald Mosley who marched with the black shirts to a Jewish part of town in London and started a fight just before the second World War. Mosley took NOTW to court and won. The judge said that he won because the activities he took part in did not involve Nazi role play.

TEN POINT LIST

Lord Nicholls set down a listof pointers to publications indicating what courts would look at to decide if the defence could be claimed. The courts will also examine whether the defendant can claim to have engaged in "responsible journalism" and "neutral reportage". Libel can be a criminal offence as well as a civil wrong. The ten point list is: 1.it must be a serious matter, the more serious the matter the more protected you will be. 2. the nature of the information - if it is likely to be said in court, even if it is defamatory and not malicious. 3. the source of the information, it has to be a solid source. 4. you must be able to show that you have taken steps to check and dissprove it. 5. the status of the information must be important and printed as soon as posisble. Not on a slow news day. 6. did you give them a chance to deny it? The final phonecall - allow them to say "no comment". 7. whether the article has the summary of the final phonecall. 8. the tone of the article. 9. the circumstances of the publication. 10. everything must be accurate, precise and facts. Cases that go well with the ten point list are the Galloway case and the Jamil case.

MAGISTRATES COURTS

Family disputes are handled here. All crimes have to go through a magistrates court, they will either deal with it themselves or pass it on to the crown courts. Non-indictable - minor fines - summary justice - parking tickets and Either-way - breaking and entering.

CROWN COURT

If the sentence can be 5 years or over - indictable offences (very offensive). Cases get referred here from the Magistrates Court. Between Magistrates and Crown court they will be released on bail or on rimand if there is fear of them absconding.

I hope that I have been of some help and that it's not all wrong. Good Luck for the test.

Sites to view the cases mentioned in more detail.

Max Mosley - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7523034.stm

Princess Carolina - http://www.out-law.com/page-4663

The Clegg Case - http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2000/feb/01/northernireland.nicholaswatt3