header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us
03 March 2017 / Dr Jon Robins
Issue: 7736 / Categories: Features , Profession
printer mail-detail

Out in the open

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.
nlj_7736_robins

As the Open Justice Charter is launched in the UK, can we learn from our legal colleagues in the US, asks Jon Robins

At the end of last month the American lawyers who defended Steven Avery and featured in the groundbreaking documentary Making a Murderer lent their support to a new campaign calling for greater transparency and accountability in our justice system.

Cameras in courts

The ban on cameras in courts on this side of the Atlantic means a UK version of the Netflix hit is nigh on impossible. Over three of its 10 hours comprised trial footage. “That is more time than Dr Zhivago spent on the entire Russian Revolution,” according to Dean Strang who, along with Jerome Buting, acted for Avery and his nephew Brendan Dassey.

The two lawyers argue that the presence of cameras in courts provides a powerful check on the justice system. “A judge who perceives that the public is watching wants to be on best behaviour,” Strang told MPs, lawyers, journalists and campaigners at a meeting

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Partner joinscorporate and finance practice in British Virgin Islands

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Firm strengthens children department with adoption and surrogacy expert

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Media and technology expert joins employment team as partner in Cambridge

NEWS
Read All
NLJ this week: Divorce ‘nuclear weapon’ freezes assets but entangles outsiders
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
NLJ this week: What counts as ‘rent’? Court says labour alone won’t do
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Your magistrates’ court needs you!
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
NLJ this week: Freed but failed—justice system leaves the innocent empty-handed
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
NLJ this week: Clarity on whistleblowing, settlements and tribunal limits
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll