question about photographers outside courts?

ianflynn

say *hypothetically* someone was coming out of the courts, be they witness or jury more importantly, and the photographers take pictures of them leaving, will these end up in papers etc, and whats the legality of this?

AnimalRights

/waits for PCPhoto

cailineile13

A lot of the time, the photographers there just take pictures of people walking into courts as they never know who might be who, ie you're the new witness in a big case that they can make some money outta the papers for.

It's also not unknown for some plaintiffs/defendants to have someone taking pictures of people to figure out who they are & why they're attending a certain case (ie Are they a reporter/potential witness/general nosey person!)

Hope that's of some help...as to whether they can legally publish photos of you without your permission, I don't know...

I would guess that publishing the names and photos of jurors as jurors would be a breech of due process.

Witnesses are reported in the paper no? So publishing their photos as witnesses should be ok. However, I am not sure of this.

ianflynn

Deleted User wrote: »

I would guess that publishing the names and photos of jurors as jurors would be a breech of due process.

Witnesses are reported in the paper no? So publishing their photos as witnesses should be ok. However, I am not sure of this.

Is it safe to post pictures of witnesses in newspapers though?
I highly doubt it is.

Borderfox

depends on usage, for editorial in context nearly anything goes eg man accused of murder picture used in paper with caption "man accused of murder"

You always see lots of pictures of accused/guilty in the papers

ValueInIreland

Courts are not a place for novices. Who and what you photograph is a mine-field, get it wrong and it can result in a case collapsing, Libel etc. Make sure you have Beefy insurance cover!
Photography in a court house* (and technically it's environs) is not allowed.
*Exception would be an empty court room with a Judge's permission.

monument

ValueInIreland wrote: »

Photography in a court house* (and technically it's environs) is not allowed.
*Exception would be an empty court room with a Judge's permission.

Allowed in any court at any time with the standing judge's permission. Which only happens once in a blue moon. No photography, as well as no audio and video recording, are rules set and enforced by judges alone. But it is indeed a minefield, and these kind of things make it more so.

A photographer or photographer was recently allowed to take pics of judges and others at the last sitting of the Special Criminal Court in Green Street, before it moved to Parkgate Street.

Photo here: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/1219/1224260978760.html

ianflynn

I meant from a photos getting taken of you perspective.

PCPhoto

rules are that if they are on public property then its fair game to photograph them ...... but not to publish them UNLESS its in the interest of the public (ie. a witness can be important to a story, a juror cannot and will not be published as they are protected by law)

anyway - a picture can only be sent to the papers/will only be accepted by the papers ....if it is captioned correctly (meaning unless the photographer knows the name of the person and why they were at the court - they wont send it out to the papers)

I'm not at the CCJ .... based in the Four Courts - but the same procedure follows. (have been doing court photography for 6yrs now)

Effects

cailineile13 wrote: »

It's also not unknown for some plaintiffs/defendants to have someone taking pictures of people to figure out who they are & why they're attending a certain case (ie Are they a reporter/potential witness/general nosey person!)

Surely if it's a witness in a case involving the plaintiffs/defendants then they have their details already and have no need to take their picture to figure out who they are. It not like Matlock with surprise witnesses.