Symposium: “Criminal Justice and the Media: Between Mistrust and Passion?”

Faculty of Law, Building 1, Paul Valéry Lecture Hall – 39 rue de l’Université, 34000 Montpellier.
Symposium open to the public; free admission.

In France, since the end of the 20th century, media coverage of criminal cases has increased significantly. This trend can be attributed to the proliferation of media outlets (print media, radio, television, and the internet) and to journalists’ growing interest in both routine news stories and political-legal cases.

The public is captivated by this ever-changing news, while for the most part remaining unaware of the technical and complex legal rules of criminal law and criminal procedure. Beyond the principle of public access to criminal trials, which allows, to a certain extent, for media coverage through print and broadcast media, information now extends forcefully into the confidential phases of the proceedings. Not without difficulty, the legal system has adapted to the realities of a media-driven society by creating opportunities for public access during the trial. The judicial system also yields to the demands of communication by conveying messages to citizens through the media. Public prosecutors, as well as defense attorneys, have thus recently clashed through the media in dramatic cases involving the death of a young girl or a young wife, at the cost of public spectacle.

The stakes are different. The media fulfill a public service mission by informing the public. The urgency of journalistic work and the pursuit of exclusive or sensational news clash with the necessary slowness of the judicial process, which operates at a different pace than that of the modern press, especially when the latter is driven by a competitive mindset. The criminal justice system aims to promote the proper functioning of the judicial system through the information it disseminates. There is a growing trend toward turning the media coverage of criminal justice into “media-driven” criminal justice. The clash between these distinct objectives is a source of conflict, the resolution of which depends on the perpetual search for a balance between the major democratic principles and fundamental freedoms enshrined in national and supranational law.

The aim of this conference is to bring together the perspectives of both academics and practitioners on this issue, in order to assess the current state of affairs and explore future prospects regarding the ambiguous yet always intense relationship between the criminal justice system and the media.

This academic event, organized by Olivier Sautel, Senior Lecturer (HDR), and Marie-Christine Sordino, Professor, is part of the “Innovation and Criminal Law” symposium series established by the Montpellier Criminal Law Research Group (EDPM-UMR 5815 Dynamiques du droit).