Colloquium "Criminal justice and the media: between mistrust and passion?"

  • Category:
  • Dates: November 23, 2018
  • Opening hours: 2:00 pm - 7:00 pm
  • Location:

Faculté de Droit, bât. 1, amphi C Paul Valéry - 39 rue de l'Université, 34000 Montpellier.
Open to the public, free admission.


Since the end of the 20th century, the media coverage of criminal cases in France has increased significantly. This is due to the proliferation of media (press, radio, television, Internet) and the growing interest shown by journalists in both straightforward news stories and politico-judicial affairs.

The public is fascinated by this ever-changing news, while often unaware of the technical and complex legal rules of criminal law and procedure. In addition to the principle of publicity in criminal trials, which to a certain extent authorizes media coverage through the print and audiovisual media, information now extends to the secret phases of proceedings. Not without difficulty, the law has adapted to the realities of a communications society, creating windows of publicity during the trial. The Judiciary has also adapted to the needs of communication, transmitting messages to citizens via the media. Public prosecutors and lawyers have recently confronted each other through the media, in dramatic cases involving the death of a little girl or a young wife, staged before the eyes of the public.

The issues are different. The media fulfill a public service mission by informing the public. The urgency of journalistic work and the quest for original or spectacular information clash with the necessary slowness of justice, which is not the same as that of the modern press, especially when it is driven by a competitive logic. The criminal justice system aims to promote the smooth running of the justice system through the information it disseminates. The tendency to transform the media coverage of criminal justice into "media" criminal justice is multiplying. The confrontation of these distinct objectives is a source of conflict, the resolution of which depends on the perpetual quest for a balance between the major democratic principles and fundamental freedoms enshrined in national and supranational law.

The aim of this symposium is to bring together the views of academics and practitioners on this issue, in order to draw up an overview and perspectives on the ambiguous but always passionate relationship between criminal justice and the media.

This scientific event, organized by Olivier Sautel, Senior Lecturer HDR, and Marie-Christine Sordino, Professor, is part of the "Innovation and Criminal Law" series of conferences created by the Montpellier Criminal Law Team(EDPM-UMR 5815 Dynamiques du droit).