The Law Commission is reviewing the law on contempt of court and is consulting on its proposals for reform. The Commission’s website has both a summary and the full consultation paper.
“Contempt of court” refers to a wide variety of conduct that impedes or interferes with the administration of justice. It may be something that happens in a court: assaulting court staff or witnesses, for example, or refusing to answer a court’s questions if called as a witness. Contempt may also be committed elsewhere, for example, by publishing material that breaches a reporting restriction or failing to comply with a court order.
As part of the consultation process, there will be an online event hosted by the University of Nottingham, School of Law, Criminal Justice Research Centre in conjunction with the Society of Legal Scholars (Criminal Law and Criminal Justice). The Criminal Law Commissioner and the contempt project team will be attending.
The organizers would like to invite responses and/or comments on the Consultation Paper from academics and researchers working in any areas relevant to contempt of court. For this event, there is a particular interest to hear from those with knowledge in the following areas:
- The role of the Law Officers (the Attorney General and Solicitor General) in contempt proceedings
- Fair trial rights of defendants in criminal trials that are the subject of media and social media attention
- Fair trial rights of defendants in contempt proceedings
- Sanctions, including imprisonment and community sentences
- Children and young people
- The use of contempt proceedings to enforce injunctions related to protest or anti-social behaviour.
- Family proceedings
- The Court of Protection.
If you would like to give a short response in the way of comments and/or a paper, please send a 100 word summary of the issues you propose to address. Reference to any specific consultation questions that your contribution may consider will be very welcome.
If you have any doubts about whether your expertise or potential contribution are relevant to the project or would like to discuss a potential contribution (whether on the above or other aspects of the consultation), please contact us:
contempt-of-court@lawcommission.gov.uk
Dr Javier Eskauriatza : javier.eskauriatza@nottingham.ac.uk
The deadline for submissions is 17 October 2024.
This event is free to attend.