Criminal Justice Act 1987

11 Restrictions on reporting applications for dismissal and preparatory hearings

(1) Except as provided by this section, it shall not be lawful to publish in Great Britain a written report, or to broadcast or include in a cable programme in Great Britain a report—

(a) of an application under section 6(1) above; or

(b) of a preparatory hearing,

containing any matter other than that permitted by this section.

(2) The Crown Court shall, on an application for the purpose with respect to any such application or hearing by the accused or one of the accused, as the case may be, order that subsection (1) above shall not apply to reports of the application or hearing.

(3) Where in the case of two or more accused one of them objects to the making of an order under subsection (2) above, the court shall make the order if, and only if, it is satisfied, after hearing the representations of the accused, that it is in the interests of justice to do so.

(4) An order under subsection (2) above shall not apply to reports of proceedings under subsection (3) above, but any decisions of the court to make or not to make such an order may be contained in reports published, broadcast or included in a cable programme before the time authorised by subsection (5) below.

(5) It shall not be unlawful under this section to publish, broadcast or include in a cable programme a report of an application under section 6( 1) above containing any matter other than that permitted by subsection (8) below where the application is successful.

(6) Where—

(a) two or more persons were jointly charged; and

(b) applications under section 6(1) above are made by more than one of them,

subsection (5) above shall have effect as if for the words "the application is " there were substituted the words "all the applications are".

(7) It shall not be unlawful under this section to publish, broadcast or include in a cable programme a report of an unsuccessful application or a preparatory hearing at the conclusion of the trial of the person charged, or of the last of the persons charged to be tried.

(8) The following matters may be contained in a report published, broadcast or included in a cable programme without an order under subsection (2) above before the time authorised by subsections (5) and (6) above, that is to say—

(a) the identity of the court and the name of the judge;

(b) the names, ages, home addresses and occupations of the accused and witnesses;

(c) any relevant business information;

(d) the offence or offences, or a summary of them, with which the accused is or are charged;

(e) the names of counsel and solicitors engaged in the proceedings;

(f) where the proceedings are adjourned, the date and place to which they are adjourned;

(g) any arrangements as to bail;

(h) whether legal aid was granted to the accused or any of the accused.

(9) The following is relevant business information for the purposes of subsection (8) above—

(a) any address used by the accused for carrying on a business on his own account;

(b) the name of any business which he was carrying on on his own account at any relevant time;

(c) the name of any firm in which he was a partner at any relevant time or by which he was engaged at any such time;

(d) the address of any such firm;

(e) the name of any company of which he was a director at any relevant time or by which he was otherwise engaged at any such time;

(f) the address of the registered or principal office of any such company; and

(g) any working address of the accused in his capacity as a person engaged by any such company.

(10) The addresses that may be published or broadcast or included in a cable programme under subsection (8) above are addresses—

(a) at any relevant time; and

(b) at the time of their publication, broadcast or inclusion in a cable programme.

(11) In this section—

• "engaged" means engaged under a contract of service or a contract for services, and

• "relevant time" means a time when events giving rise to the charges to which the proceedings relate occurred.

(12) If a report is published, broadcast or included in a cable programme in contravention of this section, the following persons, that is to say

(a) in the case of a publication of a written report as part of a newspaper or periodical, any proprietor, editor or publisher of the newspaper or periodical;

(b) in the case of a publication of a written report otherwise than as part of a newspaper or periodical, the person who publishes it;

(c) in the case of a broadcast of a report, any body corporate which transmits or provides the programme in which the report is broadcast and any person having functions in relation to the programme corresponding to those of the editor of a newspaper or periodical;

(d) in the case of an inclusion of a report in a cable programme, any body corporate which sends or provides the programme and any person having functions in relation to the programme corresponding to those of an editor of a newspaper,

shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

(13) Proceedings for an offence under this section shall not, in England and Wales, be instituted otherwise than by or with the consent of the Attorney General.

(14) Subsection (1) above shall be in addition to, and not in derogation from, the provisions of any other enactment with respect to the publication of reports of court proceedings.

(15) In this section—

• "broadcast" means broadcast by wireless telegraphy sounds or visual images intended for general reception;

• "cable programme" means a programme included in a cable programme service;

• "publish", in relation to a report, means publish the report, either by itself or as part of a newspaper or periodical, for distribution to the public.