Matters of privacy law and the conflict of Article 8 - the right to a private life - and Article 10 - freedom of expression - have been debated both in and out of the media.
Today we spoke of the case of Chris Jeffries, who was wrongly accused of the murder of Joanna Yates. He was highly defamed in the media. The British newspapers broke the law by calling him a murderer - if he was put to trial his jury would have been prejudiced against him because of of the media coverage around the case.
The Jeffries case has highlighted how the ethics of journalists are being brought under question. Just look at the News of the World's dramatic decline after it was revealed they were hacking into the phones of celebrities and the families of murder victims, such as the family of Milly Dowler.
Today we also looked at the hierarchy of the English Court System.
Below is a diagram of the court's. In simple terms, if a case is appealed from Magistrate's Court it is heard in Crown Court, then High Court, the Court of Appeal and finally the Supreme Court.
People we should know as journalists:
- Lord Paul Judge who is the Lord Chief Justice
- Kier Starmer QC who is the Director Public Prosecutions
- Ken Clark who is Tory Justice Minister
Above all, today's law lecture has taught me to recognise the risks as a journalist - to always know the law and the consequences of reporting something.
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