Open Justice or Open Season? Should the Media Report the Names of Suspects and Defendants?

Abstract:     
This paper critiques to UK practice of media reports that identify the names and addresses of suspects and defendants before final conviction at the example of the 2010 decision of the UK Supreme Court in Guardian News. It juxtaposes this approach to the principle of open justice with the German self-regulation of the press and argues that names and addresses are irrelevant to the discourse about matters of public interest in the vast majority of cases and that naming names constitutes a violation of an individual's privacy.

Keywords: Open Justice, Media Reporting, Privacy, Freedom of the Press, Freedom of Speech

working papers series