A Constitutional Disaster in the Making? - The Communications Challenge Facing the United Kingdom's Supreme Court

Abstract

Traditionally, courts communicated via their judgments, and nothing else. The new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, which began operation in 2009, has taken a novel approach to communications. The new Court has a modern communications team which tweets, issues press briefings on cases, and monitors media coverage of the Court. While the new Court has faced communications challenges - it was in 2009 portrayed by some as "Blair's Court, Blair's legacy"; and it has found itself caught up in the Scottish independence debate - this article concludes its commitment to transparency is a significant innovation in top court operation; it is a model of best practice in judicial communications.

Keywords: Communications, media, supreme court, united kingdom