Achieving the Aims of Open Justice? The Relationship Between the Courts, the Media and the Public

This article begins by outlining what the principle of open justice is intended to achieve. It then investigates the nature of the relationship that exists between the courts and the media, and between the media and the public, and suggests that these relationships are not always conducive to realising the aims of open justice. While the reporting role of the traditional news media will undoubtedly persist, at least for the foreseeable future, it is argued that, since courts now have the means to deliver to the public a fuller and truer picture of their work than the media can, they should seize the opportunity to do so

Effect of 3 Days of Oral Azithromycin on Young Children With Acute Diarrhea in Low-Resource Settings A Randomized Clinical Trial

Importance: World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines do not recommend routine antibiotic use for children with acute watery diarrhea. However, recent studies suggest that a significant proportion of such episodes have a bacterial cause and are associated with mortality and growth impairment, especially among children at high risk of diarrhea-associated mortality. Expanding antibiotic use among dehydrated or undernourished children may reduce diarrhea-associated mortality and improve growth. Objective: To determine whether the addition of azithromycin to standard case management of acute nonbloody watery diarrhea for children aged 2 to 23 months who are dehydrated or undernourished could reduce mortality and improve linear growth. Design, Setting, and Participants: The Antibiotics for Children with Diarrhea (ABCD) trial was a multicountry, randomized, double-blind, clinical trial among 8266 high-risk children aged 2 to 23 months presenting with acute nonbloody diarrhea. Participants were recruited between July 1, 2017, and July 10, 2019, from 36 outpatient hospital departments or community health centers in a mixture of urban and rural settings in Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Pakistan, and Tanzania. Each participant was followed up for 180 days. Primary analysis included all randomized participants by intention to treat. Interventions: Enrolled children were randomly assigned to receive either oral azithromycin, 10 mg/kg, or placebo once daily for 3 days in addition to standard WHO case management protocols for the management of acute watery diarrhea. Main Outcomes and Measures: Primary outcomes included all-cause mortality up to 180 days after enrollment and linear growth faltering 90 days after enrollment. Results: A total of 8266 children (4463 boys [54.0%]; mean [SD] age, 11.6 [5.3] months) were randomized. A total of 20 of 4133 children in the azithromycin group (0.5%) and 28 of 4135 children in the placebo group (0.7%) died (relative risk, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.40-1.27). The mean (SD) change in length-for-age z scores 90 days after enrollment was -0.16 (0.59) in the azithromycin group and -0.19 (0.60) in the placebo group (risk difference, 0.03; 95% CI, 0.01-0.06). Overall mortality was much lower than anticipated, and the trial was stopped for futility at the prespecified interim analysis. Conclusions and Relevance: The study did not detect a survival benefit for children from the addition of azithromycin to standard WHO case management of acute watery diarrhea in low-resource settings. There was a small reduction in linear growth faltering in the azithromycin group, although the magnitude of this effect was not likely to be clinically significant. In low-resource settings, expansion of antibiotic use is not warranted. Adherence to current WHO case management protocols for watery diarrhea remains appropriate and should be encouraged. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03130114.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Open' justice, the courts and the media

This thesis consists of a book chapter and a series of published and unpublished articles that deal with open justice, the courts and the media, framed by an introduction and a conclusion. The thesis begins with an introduction which identifies its aims and provides an overview of the issues that are addressed therein. It explains that it proceeds on the premise that open justice, while of seminal importance to our legal system, is not an inflexible rule but a malleable principle. This is critical, because it is this tractability which enables courts to assign differing strengths to the principle, depending on the context, and to subjugate it, on appropriate occasions, to other valued principles that pull in an opposite direction. Chapter one describes the nature of the principle, outlines its aims, examines its primary applications and recounts the principal common law and statutory exceptions. Considerable time is devoted to explaining how the principle and the exceptions impact on the work of the media. It also considers some of the practical difficulties that media organisations experience when courts make suppression orders. Chapter two investigates the nature of the relationship between the courts and the media, and the media and the public, and considers the extent to which media reporting of the work of the courts furthers the aims of open justice. It suggests that these relationships are not always conducive to achieving the aims of open justice. Accordingly, it argues that courts should assume greater responsibility for cultivating a more direct relationship with the public in an attempt to ensure that their work is better understood. Chapters three, four and five consider the extent to which the principle of open justice does, and should, operate in three disparate contexts. Chapter three compares the response of Australian and. Canadian courts when asked to make orders suppressing publication in the mass media of evidence given in open court concerning particular police methods used to solve cold cases and the identities of undercover police officers involved. Chapter four attempts to formulate an appropriate response to the issue of child identification in criminal contexts. It explores the policy considerations for and against identifying child victims and offenders, concludes that the arguments in favour of suppressing a child's identity generally outweigh the arguments in favour of revealing a child's identity and critically examines the options for a national standard. Chapter five considers the extent to which the media should be able to report judicial proceedings in which Victorian courts are asked to make supervision or detention orders in respect of sex offenders who have completed their custodial sentence, but who are regarded as posing an unacceptable risk of re-offending. It concludes that insufficient regard has been paid to the principle of open justice in this context. A conclusion addresses some of the opportunities and challenges that the principle of open justice is currently facing, or is likely to face in the future

Australian Media Law, 4th Edition

"This book covers media law subjects for legal practitioners and for tertiary law students or students in tertiary media courses." -- Libraries Australia

Australian media law [5th Edition]

Australian Media Law details and explains the complex case law, legislation and regulations governing media practice in areas as diverse as journalism, advertising, multimedia and broadcasting. It examines the issues affecting traditional forms of media such as television, radio, film and newspapers as well as for recent forms such as the internet, online forums and digital technology, in a clear and accessible format. New additions to the fifth edition include: - the implications of new anti-terrorism legislation for journalists; - developments in privacy law, including Law Reform recommendations for a statutory cause of action to protect personal privacy in Australia and the expanding privacy jurisprudence in the United Kingdom and New Zealand; - liability for defamation of internet search engines and service providers; - the High Court decision in Roadshow v iiNet and the position of internet service providers in relation to copyright infringement via their services; - new suppression order regimes; - statutory reforms providing journalists with a rebuttable presumption of non-disclosure when called upon to reveal their sources in a court of law; - recent developments regarding whether journalists can use electronic devices to collect and disseminate information about court proceedings; - contempt committed by jurors via social media; and an examination of recent decisions on defamation, confidentiality, vilification, copyright and contempt

Australian Media Law [5th Edition]

Australian Media Law details and explains the complex case law, legislation and regulations governing media practice in areas as diverse as journalism, advertising, multimedia and broadcasting. It examines the issues affecting traditional forms of media such as television, radio, film and newspapers as well as for recent forms such as the internet, online forums and digital technology, in a clear and accessible format.\ud \ud New additions to the fifth edition include: \ud \ud - the implications of new anti-terrorism legislation for journalists;\ud \ud - developments in privacy law, including Law Reform recommendations for a statutory cause of action to protect personal privacy in Australia and the expanding privacy jurisprudence in the United Kingdom and New Zealand;\ud \ud - liability for defamation of internet search engines and service providers;\ud \ud - the High Court decision in Roadshow v iiNet and the position of internet service providers in relation to copyright infringement via their services;\ud \ud - new suppression order regimes;\ud \ud - statutory reforms providing journalists with a rebuttable presumption of non-disclosure when called upon to reveal their sources in a court of law;\ud \ud - recent developments regarding whether journalists can use electronic devices to collect and disseminate information about court proceedings; \ud \ud - contempt committed by jurors via social media; and \ud an examination of recent decisions on defamation, confidentiality, vilification, copyright and contempt

Australian Media Law [4th ed.]

"This book covers media law subjects for legal practitioners and for tertiary law students or students in tertiary media courses." -- Libraries Australia