Pay per view the answer to publishers' contempt problems, Law Commission says

The Law Commission has called for a new, paid-for online service to allow publishers to check whether reporting restrictions are in force and avoid being charged with contempt of court.

The commission said that there was currently no formal system for notifying publishers that a restriction was in force, and why. It recommended the creation of a single website, following the example of Scotland, open to big media companies and individual bloggers.

"In addition to keeping costs to the public purse down, charging for access to the extended list would have the further advantage of ensuring that users of this extended service were traceable," the commission said.

"Paying for access using a bank transfer, debit or credit card would enable users' identities to be verified and linked to a UK postal billing address (either an individual's home address, or a media organisation's business address).

"This would enable users of this restricted list to be traced, in the rare case that the content of an order were re-published more widely, in breach of the order, and consideration was given to committing that user for contempt of court."

The commission said that charging was justifiable, because those who did not want to pay could still access the basic list free of charge and would be able to ask about details of orders in the traditional way, by contacting the court.

"For those who wanted to pay for the convenience of electronic access to the terms of the order itself without the need to enquire with the court, (and also possibly the option of an automated email alert when new orders were made), the restricted list would provide that option."

The Law Commission ran a pilot scheme to monitor the impact on court staff of introducing an online contempt service. It included the Old Bailey, Southwark Crown Court and Crown Courts in Bolton, Bournemouth, Portsmouth, Salisbury and Woolwich.

The Commission said the results showed that entering the details of reporting restrictions onto a spreadsheet would take only one or two minutes.

Professor David Ormerod QC, the Law Commissioner leading the project, said: "Transparency is central to our justice system, but the public's right to know and the right to freedom of expression must be balanced with the defendant's right to a fair trial.

"Media organisations tell us they struggle to find out whether reporting restrictions are in force and, if so, what the terms are. The current notification system is unreliable and inconsistently applied. It leaves publishers - be they large media organisations or individual citizen journalists - at risk of contempt and may restrict their ability to report proceedings.

"By enabling publishers to establish easily and accurately that a reporting restriction is in force, our solution would greatly reduce their risk of contempt and enable them to comply with the court's restrictions, or report proceedings to the public with confidence".