court crime

As an area of law contempt of court is endlessly fascinating and has been aptly described as the Proteus of the legal world, assuming an almost infinite diversity of forms. Its central concern is to protect the administration of justice in criminal and civil cases, addressing. for example, the perennial conflict between the requirements of a fair and unprejudiced trial and those of freedom of expression. It is also concerned to protect witnesses from being victimized and courts from being subjected to destructive criticism in the Press, or disruptive conduct during their proceedings. Similarly, it provides the ultimate sanction to secure the enforcement of court orders, including orders which call on journalists to reveal their confidential sources of information. A further major clash of interests is between the demands of open justice and the numerous restrictions on reporting which now exist, for example to confer anonymity on children and on complainants in sexual cases, the hearing of cases in camera or in private, and orders postponing the reporting of trials.