Attorney-General pledges to end 'trial by media'

CONTEMPT: Lord Goldsmith to issue fresh guidelines

Media organisations are to be given stronger guidelines on how to avoid being in contempt of court, the Attorney-General announced this week, as he hit out strongly against 'trial by media'.

Lord Goldsmith QC said recent high-profile cases - including the collapse of the trial of two Leeds United footballers and the release of James Bulger's killers - had convinced him that the media need firmer guidance on contempt.

He said he would soon issue a consultation paper seeking the views of editors and lawyers.

In advance of the consultation, Lord Goldsmith highlighted the main areas of concern.

These included reports that assume a defendant's guilt, that comment on the fitness of a defendant to stand trial, and on the integrity of witnesses, and information that could hamper police investigations.

'Trial by media benefits no one and has no place in our society,' he said.

Speaking at the Westminster and Holborn Law Society's annual lecture in London, Lord Goldsmith also cast doubt over media claims that the cross-border availability of Web sites rendered certain elements of contempt law obsolete.

He said: 'I am not satisfied that just because something is on an obscure Web site that not many people know about, it counts as that information being in the public domain.'

Jonathan Ames