FIVE The Human Impact of Justice System Transparency
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Judith Townend
Abstract
Chapter Five draws attention to a much-overlooked aspect of open justice: the implications and side-effects of publicity, arising from both the availability and unavailability of information. Some of these effects have been amplified by digital technology, such as the development of global search engines which are perceived to create indefinite online records of individuals’ criminal convictions.
Undoubtedly, there is a cost and human impact to publicity of criminal court proceedings, whether it is justified as unavoidable collateral harm of the process – or seen as an unwarranted and damaging intrusion of privacy. But equally, in other contexts, there can be a cost for freedom of expression and access to justice in the absence of information.
Though the authors cannot offer full answers based on their preliminary research on the impact of publicity on defendants in the criminal courts (indeed, they contend, some tensions between privacy and transparency can never be ironed out), they propose that systems should be designed to maximise equal and fair outcomes; minimise unnecessary stigmatisation and intrusion on the individuals; and avoid further entrenching existing societal exclusion and inequalities.
Abstract
Chapter Five draws attention to a much-overlooked aspect of open justice: the implications and side-effects of publicity, arising from both the availability and unavailability of information. Some of these effects have been amplified by digital technology, such as the development of global search engines which are perceived to create indefinite online records of individuals’ criminal convictions.
Undoubtedly, there is a cost and human impact to publicity of criminal court proceedings, whether it is justified as unavoidable collateral harm of the process – or seen as an unwarranted and damaging intrusion of privacy. But equally, in other contexts, there can be a cost for freedom of expression and access to justice in the absence of information.
Though the authors cannot offer full answers based on their preliminary research on the impact of publicity on defendants in the criminal courts (indeed, they contend, some tensions between privacy and transparency can never be ironed out), they propose that systems should be designed to maximise equal and fair outcomes; minimise unnecessary stigmatisation and intrusion on the individuals; and avoid further entrenching existing societal exclusion and inequalities.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- Series Editor’s Preface vii
- About the Authors viii
- Acknowledgements ix
- Introduction: Why We Need to Rethink Approaches to Open Justice in the Criminal Courts 1
- A History of Accountability in Criminal Courts 12
- Justice System Modernisation, Digitalisation and Data 40
- The Role of the Public and Media in Observing Justice 65
- The Human Impact of Justice System Transparency 93
- Conclusion: Towards a New Framework for Justice System Accountability 120
- References 133
- Index 158
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- Series Editor’s Preface vii
- About the Authors viii
- Acknowledgements ix
- Introduction: Why We Need to Rethink Approaches to Open Justice in the Criminal Courts 1
- A History of Accountability in Criminal Courts 12
- Justice System Modernisation, Digitalisation and Data 40
- The Role of the Public and Media in Observing Justice 65
- The Human Impact of Justice System Transparency 93
- Conclusion: Towards a New Framework for Justice System Accountability 120
- References 133
- Index 158
