JOURNALISTS are being invited to spend time in a law court and share their experiences about the country’s legal system – in a snapshot project measuring whether ‘justice is being seen to be done’.
The Open Justice Project is being run by James Doleman, author of a blog covering the perjury trial and subsequent conviction of former MSP, Tommy Sheridan, and Cristiana Theodoli, a co-founder of the Scottish Press Club who has worked on the Glasgow investigative magazine, The Digger.
The snapshot is the week beginning February 27 and the call to journalists is for non-specialists to take part, perhaps as a commission taking a sideways look at the legal system.
Says Theodoli: “The aim is to get writers, legal professionals and members of the public to collaborate using social media to share their experiences of a week in the life of the legal system.
“Our goal is to publish accounts from all levels of justice, from the lowest courts to the highest, inviting lawyers, journalists, members of the public and offenders to write, blog and tweet about what really goes on in our courts.
“The dedicated court reporter is becoming a thing of the past and the press, unaided, does not have the resources to be the eyes and the ears of the public at all times.
“At the same time new technology creates a channel that potentially allows an increased transparency and better access across the whole legal system to strengthen public oversight.”
Theodoli adds that both The Guardian newspaper and the Scots legal magazine, The Firm, is also involved.
The results will be appearing in a blog: http://openjusticeuk.blogspot.com
For more information, email openjusticeuk@gmail.com
