Network of media judges

What's a media judge?

The purpose of the media judges' activities is to increase the transparency of the activities of the courts. In addition, the aim is to increase awareness of the functioning of courts and, in general, of case law. The aim is also to facilitate the work of both the media and the courts and to increase interaction. Media judges promote the openness of courts and seek to eliminate ambiguities and misunderstandings caused by ignorance.

Media judges act as independent experts in the media. They do not comment on the correctness of the judgments or comment on individual cases. The chairperson of the trial in question is responsible for communicating an individual case pending.

The general communications of the court shall always be the responsibility of the chief judge.

Background

The rule of law includes the openness of the trial. The principle of publicity means that the trial and the procedural documents are, as a rule, public. Everyone therefore has the right to be present at the public hearing of the matter and to be informed of the public case file. Read more .

In connection with the quality project of the Helsinki Court of Appeal judicial district, it was discovered in 2016 that judges did not always understand how the media works. It was also known that not every judge has the opportunity to take full possession of media skills and understanding. Legal journalists, on the other hand, felt that they could not easily access the information they needed because the judges were unable to comment on the issues they dealt with or to give interviews in relation to them.

In order to clarify the flow of information and to transmit correct information, a link between the media and the courts was needed. As such, planning of the media judges’ activities started.

Media judges’ activities were first tested in 2018 in Helsinki. As a result of the positive experiences gained from the experiment, activities were also launched elsewhere in Finland.

At present, there are 23 media judges in Finnish district courts and courts of appeal .