Successful verdict for “Trial By Media” Conference

Members of The Bar of Ireland travelled to Kilkenny at the weekend to enjoy a most engaging and thought provoking conference on the theme of Trial by Media.

The exceptional array of speakers kept an almost 200 strong audience of members of the Bar and media enthralled with a diverse range of practitioner and journalistic viewpoints on the topic from both home and abroad.

David Barniville SC, Chairman, Council of The Bar of Ireland, gave the opening address to delegates, welcoming them to the conference in Lyrath Estate. The first session ‘Media in The Courtroom’ opened with Joshua Rozenberg QC delivering a talk on ‘The view from the press bench’ which was followed by Gordon Jackson QC speaking about ‘Cameras in court – why not?’. Michael O’Higgins SC completed the first half of Session 1 with a talk on ‘Media – the agenda and subtext of trial reporting’.

(Above: Joshua Rozenberg QC)

(Above: Gordon Jackson QC)

(Above: Michael O’Higgins SC)

The first session was rounded out with a talk from John Carlin from his perspective on ‘The Trials of Oscar Pistorius’. Dearbhail McDonald delivered her talk on ‘Trials of the Media? Coverage of court proceedings: a case for the defence’. The session was closed with Colm Keena speaking on ‘Court reporting on a small island’.

(Above: John Carlin)

(Above: Dearbhail McDonald)

(Above: Colm Keena)

The second session was entitled ‘Miscarriages of Justice – The Role of Lawyers and the Media’ and was opened by US Criminal Defence Attorney Cristi Charpentier speaking about the death penalty in ‘Guilty of murder, innocent of the death penalty? Evolving standards of decency and the influence of public discourse on the justice system and decision makers’. She was joined in this session by Seán Guerin SC speaking on ‘Public justice and publicity in miscarriage of justice cases’ and Shane Murphy SC with his talk on ‘Verdict and comment – the role of the media’, a talk about the Lindbergh Kidnapping.

(Above: Cristi Charpentier, US Criminal Defence Attorney)

(Above: Seán Guerin SC)

(Above: Shane Murphy SC)

In between conference sessions delegates took the opportunity to visit the exhibition stands to discuss the various services and products on offer, with many exhibitors raffling a number of fantastic prizes.  The social programme which included an opening reception in Kilkenny Castle and a gala drinks reception and dinner was also thoroughly enjoyed by all. We are most grateful to all of the speakers, session Chairs, sponsors, exhibitors and delegates that participated.

The topical theme of the conference was reflected in the significant media attention paid to the conference from Friday 8^th to Monday 11^th April inclusive with coverage across print, broadcast and social media including a detailed report on RTE’s Morning Ireland and several articles in The Irish Times, Irish Independent, Sunday Times, thejournal.ie, Sunday Business Post, and Irish Sun. There was a also a significant amount of interaction on social media with our #trialbymedia trending at number 8 on twitter reflecting the popularity of the topic.