Informing the Public about Ongoing Criminal Cases and Procedural Guarantees of the Accused

Public hearing of criminal cases is an important element of the state-legal criminal process. The public has a legitimate interest in being informed about ongoing criminal cases and in assessing the extent to which criminal justice is administered in accordance with their expectations. The openness...

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Main Author: Giorgi Tumanishvili
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Constitutional Court of Georgia 2022-12-01
Series:Journal of Constitutional Law
Subjects:
Online Access:https://constcourt.ge/files/4/4)%20Tumanishvili%20ENG%202022.pdf
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author Giorgi Tumanishvili
author_facet Giorgi Tumanishvili
author_sort Giorgi Tumanishvili
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description Public hearing of criminal cases is an important element of the state-legal criminal process. The public has a legitimate interest in being informed about ongoing criminal cases and in assessing the extent to which criminal justice is administered in accordance with their expectations. The openness of administration of criminal justice precisely serves the requirement of public awareness. Due to the fact that a large part of criminal cases may not even reach the stage of discussion on the merits in court, and it is terminated at the stage of investigation, therefore the public is interested not only in hearing criminal cases in the courtroom and their results, but also in the administration of criminal cases at the stage of investigation. Accordingly, both the media and investigative and criminal prosecution bodies ensure provision of information to the public on current criminal cases and the satisfaction of the latter's legitimate interest in providing information. Incorrect and unbalanced public information about criminal cases may pose significant challenges and threats to the fairness of criminal proceedings, the rights of the accused and the interests of justice. In particular, the presumption of innocence and the right to privacy of the accused are at risk. Accordingly, the criminal law enforcement bodies and the media should be aware of the existing threats and pay special attention to the implementation of the correct information policy when informing the public about the criminal case and the accused persons. This article discusses the role and influence of the media in the criminal justice process, reviews the risks that may threaten the procedural guarantees of the accused, the interests of justice, and develops separate recommendations in the direction of a balanced information policy.
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spelling doaj.art-b0c846699b5241b19135e204e3d109082023-05-09T17:47:30ZengConstitutional Court of GeorgiaJournal of Constitutional Law2587-53292022-12-01220222743Informing the Public about Ongoing Criminal Cases and Procedural Guarantees of the AccusedGiorgi Tumanishvili0Doctor of Law, Associate Professor of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State UniversityPublic hearing of criminal cases is an important element of the state-legal criminal process. The public has a legitimate interest in being informed about ongoing criminal cases and in assessing the extent to which criminal justice is administered in accordance with their expectations. The openness of administration of criminal justice precisely serves the requirement of public awareness. Due to the fact that a large part of criminal cases may not even reach the stage of discussion on the merits in court, and it is terminated at the stage of investigation, therefore the public is interested not only in hearing criminal cases in the courtroom and their results, but also in the administration of criminal cases at the stage of investigation. Accordingly, both the media and investigative and criminal prosecution bodies ensure provision of information to the public on current criminal cases and the satisfaction of the latter's legitimate interest in providing information. Incorrect and unbalanced public information about criminal cases may pose significant challenges and threats to the fairness of criminal proceedings, the rights of the accused and the interests of justice. In particular, the presumption of innocence and the right to privacy of the accused are at risk. Accordingly, the criminal law enforcement bodies and the media should be aware of the existing threats and pay special attention to the implementation of the correct information policy when informing the public about the criminal case and the accused persons. This article discusses the role and influence of the media in the criminal justice process, reviews the risks that may threaten the procedural guarantees of the accused, the interests of justice, and develops separate recommendations in the direction of a balanced information policy. https://constcourt.ge/files/4/4)%20Tumanishvili%20ENG%202022.pdfinfluence of the media in the criminal justice processfair trialpresumption of innocenceright to privacy
spellingShingle Giorgi Tumanishvili
Informing the Public about Ongoing Criminal Cases and Procedural Guarantees of the Accused
Journal of Constitutional Law
influence of the media in the criminal justice process
fair trial
presumption of innocence
right to privacy
title Informing the Public about Ongoing Criminal Cases and Procedural Guarantees of the Accused
title_full Informing the Public about Ongoing Criminal Cases and Procedural Guarantees of the Accused
title_fullStr Informing the Public about Ongoing Criminal Cases and Procedural Guarantees of the Accused
title_full_unstemmed Informing the Public about Ongoing Criminal Cases and Procedural Guarantees of the Accused
title_short Informing the Public about Ongoing Criminal Cases and Procedural Guarantees of the Accused
title_sort informing the public about ongoing criminal cases and procedural guarantees of the accused
topic influence of the media in the criminal justice process
fair trial
presumption of innocence
right to privacy
url https://constcourt.ge/files/4/4)%20Tumanishvili%20ENG%202022.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT giorgitumanishvili informingthepublicaboutongoingcriminalcasesandproceduralguaranteesoftheaccused