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Words
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INTRO
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The
collapse of the trial of two footballers has renewed debate about
England's contempt of court laws. The BBC's British Affairs correspondent,
Adam Brimelow, reports. |
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IN
FULL
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Listen
to the report in full |
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11th April 2001
England's
law on contempt of court
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NEWS
1
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Listen
to the first part of the report |
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This
is not the first time that a judge has halted a trial in England because
of prejudicial publicity. But it's unusual for the case to
be stopped so late in the legal process. The case centred on allegations
that four men, including two well-known English footballers, Jonathan
Woodgate and Lee Bowyer, attacked an Asian student in Leeds city centre
-- inflicting grievous bodily harm. All the defendants have
denied being involved.
As the jury was deliberating its verdicts in the original trial,
the judge called the proceedings to a halt, after deciding that a
newspaper article about the case was potentially prejudicial.
This area of law, known as contempt of court, is familiar to
all properly trained journalists in England. They must avoid publishing
or broadcasting any material that poses a substantial risk of seriously
prejudicing a fair trial. Although the stipulations are laid
out in law, the question of what constitutes a substantial
risk is open to debate. |
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Listen
to the words |
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WORDS
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prejudicial
publicity: information about a case which is not given in court
but which could change the jurors' opinion
allegations:
an allegation is a statement suggesting that someone has done something
wrong
grievous bodily harm: very serious physical injury
denied
being involved: said it was not true that they took part
verdicts: a verdict is the decision given at the end of a
trial
contempt
of court: the criminal offence of disobeying instructions from
the judge or a court of law
stipulations:
conditions: if you stipulate that something must be done, you
state clearly that it must be done
constitutes:
if something constitutes a particular thing, you can regard it as
being that thing
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| NEWS
2 |
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Listen
to the second part of the report |
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The
legal concept of contempt is English in origin, and has been widely
adopted throughout the English speaking world, apart from the United
States. But even within the United Kingdom there are differences over
the way the law is applied. Scottish courts are renowned
for interpreting the contempt rules more strictly than
English courts.
In the United States the rules are different. There juries are sequestered,
or kept in isolation, so they can not see media reports of the trial
they are considering. It used to be common practice for juries considering
their verdicts in England to be sent to hotels and kept away from
anything that might prejudice them. But nowadays they are nearly always
sent home. This case may lead to calls for the policy to be reversed.
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Listen
to the words |
| WORDS |
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legal: used to refer to things that relate to the law
concept:
an idea or abstract principle
Scottish
courts: Scots law is different from English law
renowned:
well known
interpreting: if you interpret something in a particular
way, you decide that this is its meaning
reversed:
to reverse something means to change it to its opposite
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Read
more and discuss
the topic in BBC News Online |
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