Leading legal and media witnesses confirmed by Justice Committee

28.09.2012

Television cameras and tweeting jury decisions from the court room will come under the spotlight as leading figures in the Scottish legal and media worlds were confirmed to appear at a one-off evidence session of the Justice Committee on Tuesday 2 October.

The committee will hold a Scottish Parliament Chamber debate on the role of the media in criminal trials later this month and will use the evidence from the roundtable meeting to inform the debate.

Committee Convener Christine Grahame MSP said:

“We believe this one-off evidence session with a number of high-profile experts from the legal, media and criminal justice professions will prove invaluable to our work on the role of media in criminal trials.

“At a time when the internet and social media is changing the way criminal trials are reported, we feel it is appropriate for us to gain a better understanding of the challenges in this area and look at whether the law is keeping pace with reality”.

Those confirmed to appear include:

• Aamer Anwar – criminal defence lawyer and columnist with The Sun newspaper.
• Helen Arnot, Head of Legal and Regulatory Affairs, STV.
• Alistair Bonnington - former principal solicitor at BBC Scotland.
• Detective Chief Superintendent John Cuddihy, Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland.
• Donald Findlay QC - Chair, Criminal Bar Association, Faculty of Advocates.
• David Harvie - Director of Serious Casework, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.
• Iain McKie - campaigner and former police officer.
• Steven Raeburn - editor of the Firm Magazine, an independent law journal.
• Jonathan Russell - editor in chief at The Herald and Times group.
• David Sinclair - Head of Communications at Victim Support Scotland.

Submissions on the evidence session can be accessed via the Justice Committee webpages on
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/CurrentCommittees/29845.aspx

Photography

Anyone wishing photographs of the evidence session should contact Scottish Parliament photographer Andrew Cowan on 0131 348 5878.