Some things in court deserve not to be in the public space – Sulemana Braimah
Sulemana Braimah, Executive Director of the Madia Foundation for West Africa has expressed his view on why he thinks it is not advisable for members of the press to record court proceedings live.
Establishing his point, he argued that during court proceedings, all manner of things happen that should not get into the public domain in order to avoid the public making prejudicial comments.
Speaking on the issue, he said “Journalists are allowed into court to write proceedings. Recordings, in terms of voice recording and video, have traditionally, not been allowed and I believe there is a reason why.
“If you go to the court, sometimes all manner of things can happen and it is not everything that happens in the court that perhaps, should be put out there because those things if they are out could be prejudicial, will get people to comment in diverse ways about ongoing cases.
“I am not too sure whether that would help in judicial administration even as I think for the media, the deeper they get, the better it is for them and for all of us. But the judiciary has its own mechanism of dispensing justice. “
His view comes after the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Godfred Dame proposed at the opening of this year’s Bench, Bar and Faculty Conference, a live telecast of all court cases of national importance, not just election petitions.
Mr Dame said “Reflecting on these unhealthy developments I have spoken about, My Lord Chief Justice, sometimes I really think the way to go is to permit more broadcasts of cases of immense national importance and not the election petition alone.
“When this is done, the poverty of legal reasoning behind certain cases dismissed by the Supreme Court and in respect of which the state emerges, the victor will be exposed for all to see,” he said.
“Spread of false information by lawyers, disregard for the cherished values of the legal profession and the promotion of instability and violence, apart from being disreputable, poses a far greater threat to cohesion in society if it comes from lawyers.
“Such conduct should result in promptly inflicted sanctions on the lawyers in question,” he was categorical.
