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For Immediate Release
March 29, 2007

Panel on Justice and the Media

The McGuinty government continues to make progress implementing the recommendations of the Panel on Justice and the Media. Today's announcement of the establishment of a Justice-Media Liaison Committee is the latest step forward.

Background

Attorney General Michael Bryant established the Panel on Justice and the Media in January 2005. It brought together representatives of the media and justice sectors to recommend ways to improve understanding between the media and the justice system. The panel held discussions and received public input through written submissions and meetings, and also studied best practices from other jurisdictions.

Its August 2006 report contained 17 recommendations in the areas of openness, education, working in the electronic age and the ongoing relationship between justice and the media.

Status of Recommendations

When the panel's final report was received in August, the Ministry of the Attorney General immediately began implementing recommendations that fell under its jurisdiction:

• Each court location in the province now has a designated media contact person to provide information and service to journalists, and to facilitate access to documents and courtrooms.
• The ministry, the Advocates' Society, Legal Aid Ontario and the Radio-Television News Directors Association have formed a working group to develop learning material for professional organizations on justice-media topics.
• The Ontario Justice Education Network is getting support from the ministry to develop learning modules for high-school civics and law students.
• A new "Media Resources" section is now part of the ministry's website. This section contains an online media guide, links to dockets and judgements, where available, information about all levels of courts, as well as information providing greater clarity about the sub judice rule that governs what journalists can and cannot publish before and during a trial.
• The Attorney General and Ontario Chief Justice Roy McMurtry have agreed to a pilot program to put cameras in the Ontario Court of Appeal. An implementation team is now working out details, including when the cameras will be up and running.

Implementation of other recommendations, including increasing access to court records and outreach to postsecondary institutions and high school students, is underway.

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