Category Archives: digital open justice

Legal records and the ‘right to be forgotten’: Google Spain blog series and event

Posted on May 12, 2014 by jtownend

Professor Lorna Woods, University of Essex, has put together a fantastic panel of lawyers to digest and discuss the long-awaited ECJ judgment in the Google Spain case, which considers whether Google is required to remove links to a 15 year … Continue reading →

Posted in courts, data, digital open justice, events, freedom of expression, human rights | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Monitoring the effect of changes to defamation statute and procedure

Posted on January 3, 2014 by jtownend

The Defamation Act 2013 is now in force. In a press release the government claims it “reverses the chilling effect on freedom of expression current libel law has allowed, and the prevention of legitimate debate we have seen in the … Continue reading →

Posted in academic research, blogging, defamation, digital open justice, freedom of expression, human rights, media law, media law resources | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

What data should the Ministry of Justice open up?

Posted on September 13, 2013 by jtownend

The Ministry of Justice has listed 43 unpublished data-sets that could be opened up for public use. It is part of a public consultation on the National Information Infrastructure (NII), a new initiative for improving government data. The government is … Continue reading →

Posted in academic research, access to justice, courts, criminal law, data, digital open justice, education, freedom of information | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

Open courts data, open justice… and the right to be forgotten?

Posted on June 5, 2013 by jtownend

I dipped my toe in the curious world of data protection enforcement yesterday [4 June], at the first joint seminar of the DP Forum and NADPO (The National Association of Data Protection Officers). The theme was ‘The challenges of complying … Continue reading →

Posted in access to justice, blogging, courts, data, digital open justice, freedom of expression, freedom of information, human rights, privacy | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

The ‘public’ in the Public Inquiry

Posted on April 25, 2013 by jtownend

This post originally appeared in Three-D Issue 20 – the Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association (Meccsa) newsletter.  The public was supposed to be at the heart of the Leveson Inquiry. When it was announced, David Cameron described how the … Continue reading →

Posted in access to justice, blogging, digital open justice, journalism, leveson inquiry, media ethics, media law resources | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Open letter: Justice and Security Bill is ‘a charter for cover ups’

Posted on March 4, 2013 by jtownend

My name is among the signatories of this open letter written in protest at the measures proposed in the Justice and Security Bill, which has reached its report stage and third reading in the House of Commons.  For more background … Continue reading →

Posted in academic research, access to justice, courts, digital open justice, freedom of expression, human rights, press freedom | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

New paper: Leveson online – A publicly reported inquiry

Posted on February 27, 2013 by jtownend

My paper on public access to the Leveson Inquiry has been published in the new issue of Ethical Space, The International Journal of Communication Ethics. Abstract: The Leveson Inquiry has broken new ground for court and political reporting: for the first … Continue reading →

Posted in academic research, access to justice, blogging, courts, data, digital open justice, freedom of expression, human rights, journalism, leveson inquiry, media ethics, press freedom | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

“Full” courts lists continued: what are the data protection and contempt issues? And who should be able to access them?

Posted on February 11, 2013 by jtownend

A quick update to my recent post on digital publication of Magistrates’ court lists. I reported how blogger Richard Taylor obtained a “full” court list from his local Magistrates’ Court following a Freedom of Information request. However, he did not … Continue reading →

Posted in access to justice, blogging, courts, data, digital open justice, public interest, reporting restrictions | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Legislation: open the data and enable participation

Posted on February 1, 2013 by jtownend

Last Friday I attended an excellent and inspiring presentation by John Sheridan, head of legislation services at the National Archives, at the Open Data Institute.  ODI’s Kathryn Corrick has helpfully uploaded both the audio and his presentation. The Indigo Trust … Continue reading →

Posted in academic research, access to justice, courts, data, digital open justice, education, Public Legal Education | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Digitally published Magistrates’ Court Lists: how should it be done?

Posted on January 23, 2013 by jtownend

There is little disagreement with the idea that there should be increased public access to legal proceedings, but how it should be done creates some debate.  As I’ve written before, online publication of court records has developed in a piecemeal … Continue reading →

Posted in access to justice, blogging, courts, criminal law, data, digital open justice, freedom of information | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment