Press freedom and the privacy of non-victim children: resolving conflict between open justice and human rights

摘要

The presumption of open justice in criminal trials seems to fall foul of certain important human rights considerations. Firstly it is in conflict with the presumption of parity that is inherent in the balancing equation; that is the concept that rights should be treated of equal value initially. Secondly, as a rule, it prevents the balancing equation from considering all relevant human rights arguments associated with press and privacy actions. That includes all aspects of the children's right to respect for their private and family life under article 8. The presumption of open justice reduces the balancing exercise to the simple questions of whether the proceedings are criminal, with a further requirement to assess whether there existed any unusual or exceptional harm to the children.