A significant shake-up in court reporting is expected as the media is granted the formal right to access documents opened in court.

The 1 August change in the Rules of the Superior Courts allows the media access to documents opened in High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court civil and criminal hearings.

Significantly, press reporters can now access full documents even if only a small extract is read out in court, or where a judge treats a document as having been opened but not actually read out in court.

The new rules state that disclosure must be for the purpose of “facilitating the fair and accurate reporting of a hearing in the proceedings to which it relates”.

Sensitive information

However, legal advisors have been warned that the media may now access sensitive information which they may not want to enter the public domain.

The move follows the introduction of the Data Protection Act 2018.

Restrictions will still apply to in camera family law cases.

The media will be able to access and review court documents by inspecting them under the supervision of a member of the Courts Service, or by taking a copy. The Courts Service may also issue a press release in some cases.

The Courts Service will issue media guidelines in advance of October’s new legal year.

Courts Service spokesman Gerry Curran said that the vast majority of people “rely upon the media to provide them with accurate information on the operations of, and the cases before, the courts.

“The changes are a transparent measure to support the role of an independent courts system in our democracy.”