Don’t publish recordings, transcripts of court proceedings, lawyers told

 

Lawyers issued an undertaking to the court that they will not distribute, duplicate or upload any recording of a proceeding in any form and to any party, when applying for a copy.

PETALING JAYA: 

The Bar Council has warned lawyers and chambering students not to publicise recordings of court proceedings online, on social media, or in any other form or manner.

The council said its legal profession committee has received numerous complaints about lawyers and pupils-in-chambers publicising recordings and transcripts of court proceedings online and on social media.

In a recent circular, members of the Bar were told that recordings of proceedings are provided by the courts solely to enable transcripts to be prepared for use in the case itself, and that their publication was not permissible.

It also reminded members of an undertaking they give to the registrar of the Federal Court every time they apply for recordings from the court. The undertaking bars them publishing the recordings.

It reads: 

I undertake that the copy of this recording will only be used for this specific case. I will not distribute, duplicate or upload this recording in any form or to any party.

The council said Section 94(3)(b) of the Legal Profession Act 1976 (LPA) prescribes that any failure to comply with the undertaking would amount to a breach of duty to the court, and is tantamount to misconduct.

“A misconduct makes the advocate and solicitor liable to be struck off the roll or suspended from practice for any period not exceeding five years under Section 94(2) of the LPA if found guilty by the disciplinary board.

As for pupils, Section 94(5) of the LPA places them under the same control by the disciplinary board where an order may be made prohibiting the pupil found guilty of misconduct from proceeding with any petition for admission until after a date to be specified,

 it said.

Lawyers, however, said the blanket ruling may hinder the proper discharge of their functions.

Lawyer SN Nair said the Federal Court should clarify if this ruling also applies to lawyers who share recordings with members of the media who are unable to cover certain court proceedings.

The undertaking should not apply to lawyers who share recordings to help the media report cases accurately,

 he told FMT.

Nair said the media should be entitled to secure transcripts of proceedings whenever hearings are conducted online. Online hearings, introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic, are still used widely by the court.

Sharing transcripts of such proceedings with clients and the media should be permissible as it is for a legitimate purpose, he said.

Another lawyer, NG Vinod, said the transcripts of court proceedings should be considered public documents and accessible by anyone unless otherwise ordered by a court.

“There are times when our clients require us to show proof that certain issues were brought up during a hearing, especially if they were unable to be present for various reasons.

Others ask us for evidence of certain decisions, and we would need to show (the recordings) or provide them with the transcripts,

 he told FMT.

However, he agreed that video recordings should not be published or uploaded on any platform as the law does not allow for it. - FMT