Law Times

Law Times • November 5, 2012 New guidelines propose letting anyone tweet in court D NEWS BY YAMRI TADDESE Law Times other legal experts who have proposed new national guidelines for the use of social media in court. The group representing the Canadian espite being late to the game, Canadian courts are ready to start trending on Twitter, ac- cording to a group of judges and Bindman, one of the members of the cen- tre' the blurring boundaries between accred- ited journalists and the general public, says Bindman. But everyone publishing online via tweets or blogs should bear the responsibility s group that draſted the guidelines. The guidelines take into consideration Centre for Court Technology proposed recommendations in late October that would allow anyone attending an open Canadian court to tweet away during the proceedings unless specifically prohibited by the judicial officer. "In the last two years, the issue has been coming up in different courts and there has been no consistent response, Superior Court Justice Frances Kiteley, co- chairwoman of the centre' " says Ontario follow a nationwide survey that found that judges, defence lawyers, Crown prosecu- tors, journalists, and court administrators were leaning toward a policy of allowing the use of social media in the courts. Ontario doesn't have a policy on live Kiteley says the permissive guidelines s board of directors. tweeting from courts, but there is one in the works. Some provinces allow the use of social media by default unless a judge restricts it while others prohibit its use except in cases where a judge permits it. In B.C. courts, only accredited journalists and counsel can use cellular devices. "More and more Canadians are getting their information and information on the courts from social media," says Stephen Alberta Court of Queen's Bench Ontario Court of Appeal Supreme Court of Canada Nova Scotia courts Manitoba courts New Brunswick courts with social media, says Henry, but it's all the more reason why judges should con- sider "both the necessity and practicality of publication bans." New rules on social media may mean judges will have to brush up on their social media skills in order to understand what exactly is involved, something Kiteley Social media in select Canadian courts B.C. Supreme Court All devices are to be turned off. Counsel and members of the media exempted. Accredited journalists and lawyers can send and receive text mes- sages from the courtroom unless told otherwise by the judicial officer. No policy in place yet, but the province is currently working on one. Laptops and handheld devices may be used as long as sound is turned off. Wi-Fi available. An interim policy allows tweeting in the Court of Appeal unless di- rected otherwise. It is not allowed in supreme and provincial courts. Members of public allowed to text each other or to the web. Manitoba is currently looking to amend its policies. Sending texts prohibited unless under exceptional cases. Source: Canadian Centre for Court Technology social media intellaction working group of abiding by publication bans, the guide- lines say. The draſt also recommends ban- ning jurors from using all electronic devices. Independent media lawyer Daniel says the National Judicial Institute is "very alert" about. Some provinces deem tweeting ac- Henry, who has pushed for audiovisual ac- cess in courtrooms, says social media is an important tool of communication. "Public confidence in the system comes from access to the system. It's time, frankly, " PAGE 3 pen now [through traditional media]," says Kiteley, who adds that the risks of compro- mising proceedings are greater with the use of social media. "We should be able to manage those "The reality is, though, that can hap- risks," she says. She suggest having more announcements in courts and signs to re- mind the public and journalists what they can't publish on social media or elsewhere. Bindman, a former journalist with years of experience covering the courts, has con- cerns of his own about reporters tweeting from the courtroom. "I wonder if Twitter is turning journal- ists into stenographers," he says. "If journalists are tweeting, are they tak- ing notes?" Context, analysis, and editing can go out the window while blogging live, but these are issues journalists, and not the courts, should consider, says Bindman. Although journalists could use elec- tronic devices at the Michael Rafferty trial, some media outlets decided not to tweet during the proceedings due to the graphic nature of the materials. "That' ceptable in appellate courts but not in trial courts where there' the jury. Kiteley recalls the case of former RCMP s a risk of influencing that in this day and age the justice system provides that kind of access," he says, calling the guidelines "a certainly welcome step. Detecting breaches of publication bans and other restrictions may be tricky officer Kevin Gregson, who was convicted this year in the first-degree murder of Ot- tawa police officer Eric Czapnik. At one point during the trial, a reporter tweeted before the jury entered the courtroom that Gregson had arrived in shackles, some- thing the courts don't want jurors to see. ation I encourage," says Bindman. çois De Rico, a partner at Langlois Kro- nström Desjardins LLP who participated in a forum on social media last month, is that more access could in some cases result in precisely the opposite of what it intends to achieve. The immediate release of witnesses' information to the public may create "a chilling effect," he says, not- ing that could ironically make the courts a more guarded space. s the kind of journalistic consider- The other risk, according to Jean-Fran- LT for Classes Starting in September 2012 Part-time, Executive LLM program for corporate counsel and practising lawyers Information Sessions Wednesday, December 7, 2011 5:30 - 7:00 pm Friday, December 9, 2011 8:00 - 9:30 am Taught by U of T Faculty of Law professors, together with top international faculty from No registration required. Please feel free to drop in anytime during these hours. aught by U of No registration required. Please feel free to drop in anytime during these hours. Taught by U of T Faculty of Law professors, together with top MIT-Sloan School of Management and expert practitioners. 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