Dubai: Restraining the media amounts to a violation of freedom, justice and the right to free expression as also a breach of constitutional rights, a leading lawyer said on Sunday.
“Restraining the media is by itself an act of contravening freedoms… and even worse, it’s a clear breach of justice and freedom of expression. Emirati lawmakers and legislators have preserved and protected freedom of expression and free opinion as per Article 30 of the UAE constitution which guarantees the freedom of expression and opinion.
The freedom of media is more importantly to be protected than ensuring a fair trial,” said advocate Essam Al Tamimi as he addressed the ‘Judiciary and Media Forum’ on Sunday.
The two-day event is being organised by the Dubai Judicial Institute (DJI). The first-of-its-kind specialised forum has attracted delegates from both the judicial and media fields.
Balancing mechanism
Al Tamimi said there is no competition or struggle between the two institutions [judiciary and media] as they “both complement and complete each other”.
“There should be balance between the right to publish court cases and a fair trial. Everybody seeks an independent and fair justice system based on the familiar formula ‘innocent until proven guilty’,” he said.
Al Tamimi was among the first panel of speakers that included Dr Hassa Lootah from UAE University and Dr Humaid Al Ta’ie from Ajman University for Science and Technology.
Call for ethics code
Dr Hassa spoke about the current situation of media in the UAE. She also called for establishing a special code of ethics to regulate the relationship between media and the judiciary. The current publications media law is old and needs to be amended, she said.
Dr Al Ta’ie spoke about the vital role that social media and networking tools [such as Blackberry, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter] have played in enlightening Arab society and inspiring the Arab Spring.
Dr Jamal Al Sumaiti, DJI’s director-general emphasized DJI’s commitment to provide an integrated platform to enable communication between the judiciary and media and jointly discuss strategies to promote closer ties between the two institutions.
“The Forum attracted wide participation that confirms the importance of the event as a platform to enhance coordination with the concerned authorities in the judicial system and media, and intensify joint efforts, ensure safety, security, justice and freedom,” Al Sumaiti added.
The second panel of speakers included judge Dr Khalil Ebrahim, Emarat Al Yowm editor-in-chief Sami Al Riyami and advocate Abdul Moneim Bin Suwaidan.
The Judiciary and Media Forum seeks to highlight several issues such as media coverage of the judiciary, professional and ethical controls of media coverage, the balance between press freedom and sovereignty of the judiciary, ensuring a fair trial in light of the evolution of media, invasion of privacy in the pursuit of news, emerging media technologies and their impact on judicial rulings, the role of judges, lawyers and media in addressing social issues, as well as jurisdiction in cases of published materials and its relationship to freedom of expression.
The Forum concludes on Monday with the submission of a set of recommendations to strengthen media-judiciary relations.
