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Does educating the public about our legal system and allowing maximum freedom of the press prevail over the accused's right to a fair trial? In the United States, both the courts and legal scholars have attempted to balance the rights of a free press and the accused's right to a fair trial. In other countries, this balancing has not been such a significant issue. However, in recent years, increasingly more nations have explored the use of cameras in the courtroom. Countries experimenting with cameras in their courtrooms include Canada, Australia, Israel, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and Scotland.4 While many other countries have not yet experimented with cameras, there are a number of people in some countries who think cameras should be permitted in the courtroom. Thus, the media issue has become a subject of debate. The purpose of this Comment is to examine and compare law and policy in Canada, England, Scotland, and the United States to determine to what extent cameras are permitted in the courts. The history of the laws and policies in these countries play a vital part in the reasoning behind why some of these countries allow the use of cameras in their courtrooms while others do not.
Recommended Citation
Stephen A. Metz, Justice Through the Eye of a Camera: Cameras in the Courtrooms in the United States, Canada, England, and Scotland, 14 Penn St. Int'l L. Rev. 673 (1996).