POLL: Should media refrain from covering court cases to aid offenders’ rehabilitation?

May 30, 2025 0

A councillor has called into question the role of the media in reporting on criminal court cases.

Integration joint board vice-chairman John Fraser suggested at Thursday’s meeting it could have a negative effect on offenders’ rehabilitation.

He said: “If we were to reside in one of the main metropolises of Scotland such as Glasgow and Edinburgh, the vast majority of these that are reported in the local press for criminality would not be coming into the public domain or else the daily paper would look like a phonebook.

“The upshot of that is here in island communities we get one individual who has engaged in criminality, they’ve gone through the due process, they’ve been before the sheriff and justice has been dispensed as is seen fit.

“On the back of that, however, we have the double jeopardy of what we report in the local media which I believe can have an adverse effect on the rehabilitation of the individual that is involved in the criminality due to the stigma that is created from this reporting.

“Moreover than that, it’s the families of these individuals, in particular the children, who see their parents or carers published in the local media and the stigma and shame that inappropriately engulfs them. This can have a long lasting negative effect in an adverse childhood experience which is an akin to trauma.”

Historically, The Shetland Times has tried to cover every court case that reaches a conclusion at Lerwick Sheriff Court, as the paper of record.

The media’s role in the justice system is often described through the much quoted aphorism: “Justice must not only be done, but must also be seen to be done”.

This dictum was laid down by Lord Hewart, the then Lord Chief Justice of England in the case of Rex v. Sussex Justices in 1924.

The idea of “open justice” means court proceedings should be conducted publicly and transparently in order to build public trust in the justice system and the rule of law.