The recent summoning of media houses by the High Court has been blasted by Senior Queen Counsel and former Attorney General Dancia Penn QC, OBE who labelled it as a breach of Natural Justice. Photo: VINO/File

The editors of various news sites in the Virgin Islands were summoned to appear in the High Court of Justice (Criminal Division) on July 24, 2015. Photo: VINO

According to the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr Wayne Rajbansie, the matter was not an adversarial proceeding as it was merely a dialogue among persons who were deemed important to the criminal justice system because they dispense to the general and wider public information that occurs within the court. Photo; VINO/File

The editors of various news companies in the Virgin Islands including BVI News, Island Sun, BVI Beacon, Virgin Islands News Online and BVI Platinum News were summoned to appear in the High Court of Justice (Criminal Division) on July 24, 2015.

The ‘Summons to Defendants’ did not state who was the Complainant and what the Complaint was exactly about.

According to the Summons issued to Virgin Islands News Online, “Complaint has been made IN THE MATTER OF ALL CRIMINAL CASES BEFORE THE COURT, THAT all commentaries on articles on various websites shall be disabled for all matters under the court’s consideration until the final determination of matters.

All existing posted commentaries on ongoing trials should be removed from the online news site Virgin Islands News Online (VINO) in the island of Tortola in the Territory of the Virgin Islands.”

Not adversarial matter

According to the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr Wayne Rajbansie, the matter was not an adversarial proceeding as it was merely a dialogue among persons who were deemed important to the criminal justice system because they dispense to the general and wider public information that occurs within the court. “So that no one here is trying to persecute, prosecute or calling you to defend yourself,” Mr Rajbansie said.

He said in small jurisdictions people know people and so the media must be careful about what they relate to the general public, especially when relating to cases where children are involved in criminal proceedings.

No cases are a waste of time

The DPP also chided certain media houses for allowing blogs from persons commenting that certain cases were a waste of time. He said persons at the DDP Office work no less than 12 to 15 hours a day, including on a Saturday and Sunday for some counsels. “When you accuse of us wasting time I take umbrage to that.”

One of the major concerns of the DPP and the court was that allowing news sites to post blogs on ongoing criminal proceedings could influence the outcome of cases since jurors could be swayed by such information.

It was also noted that media houses should take into consideration the welfare of the victim as well as the defendant when reporting on criminal proceedings since emotional and other damages could also be done.

According to the DDP, he expects far more responsible journalism in the next assizes, failing which the DDP under the Constitution can institute criminal proceedings for contempt of court.

High disturbing

Meanwhile, Mrs Penn had turned up in court on behalf of the Island Sun, and after listening to the judge, some reporters and the DPP, said she found the matter highly disturbing and that it seriously calls for concern.

Noting that she is in full support of the attempts of the court to impress upon responsible journalism from the media, Mrs Penn said her concern was with the process in which it was being done.

“I can see as a lawyer that we are on a slippery slope and it is a slope that we should get off...There are objective problems with this process because what has happened here is that people have been brought before the court in a criminal matter, irrespective of what the DDP said. It is a criminal proceeding, brought before the jurisdiction of the criminal court on a summons.”

Breach of Natural Justice

Mrs Penn said persons cannot be called before the court, irrespective of who they are, without being told what the nature of the complaint is. “They didn’t not know who the Complainant was. They did not know what the Complaint was. They did not know what the particulars were. These are fundamentals of natural justice and that is part of why I am convinced we are going down a slippery slope.”

In an emotional tone, the senior and respected legal practitioner said the men and women of the media should not have been brought to the court on a summons of this nature and subjected to what she thought was “quite a tirade” on them.

“I think it was a tirade. We have to be very vigilant about how we handle these things,” submitted Mrs Penn who disclosed that she was also concerned that it was only the DPP prosecutors and the court against the media and had it not been for the Island Sun she would not have been in court to say anything on such an important issue.

“Matters of this kind should also involve the Attorney General,” Mrs Penn further advised.

However, Justice Byer said the summons was only done to ensure that all the media houses attended to hear the concerns of the court and also reiterated that the matter was not an adverserial one.

Meanwhile, a member of the media highlighted to the court that readers are free to copy stories from websites and post on their own social media pages and have persons comment on them.

According to Justice Byer, she has no control of that. “What I am saying is that you have control over the blogs on the official reports on your websites.”

Last warning

She also noted that the summoning of the media was the last warning to reporters as she has spoken to media house before on their responsibility when reporting on ongoing criminal matters and the disallowing of blogs on such.

Mrs Penn added that the public has a legitimate interest in the criminal justice system and in the criminal judicial processes and that the media has an interest in it as well but it has to be balanced, responsible and fair.

Freedom of the Press being chipped away

“And in this jurisdiction a lot of injustice has been done and they are concerned with the freedom of expression and freedom of the press and what they are seeing as methods of chipping away at that freedom of the press and the consequences of the wider society.

We are in a very delicate zone. I think that it is very important that we keep those scales of justice in balance and that the media has to do its part. The media has to be very responsible in how it reports but report it must.”

According to Mrs Penn, she doesn’t see the recent summoning of the media as the end to the issues she raised by herself and the court.

“I see the challenges that technology is going to bring to this and a lot of the responsibility will fall on the courts as the keepers of balance in the society.”

Justice Nicole Byer then had the matter disposed, with no orders made.