ABSTRACT
In Great Britain, the Contempt of Court Act 1981 effectively curtails the dissemination of prejudicial pretrial publicity by the news media. The Act authorizes civil or criminal punishments against journalists who publish stories that create a real danger of compromising the fairness of a criminal proceeding. Although Britain has no constitution, both the press's right to freedom of speech and the criminal defendant's right to a fair trial are well grounded in British common-law tradition. As the number of highly publicized trials increased, attorneys and academics urged the courts to bring their contempt powers to bear against the media, which were growing increasingly involved in the criminal process. The press serves the dual purposes of informing the public about the criminal process and of exposing judicial misconduct, thereby enhancing both the fairness of the proceeding and respect for the rule of law.
