Communication Guidelines for Criminal Justice Authorities

 

The main objective of the present guidelines is to assist judges, prosecutors, police officers and lawyers to properly communicate information about ongoing criminal cases to the media or online on their websites, and thus to prevent them from violating the presumption of innocence of the suspects and accused. The guidelines include a brief introductory section explaining the impact of media exposure on the private and social life of suspects and accused and offer a set of recommendations on how to present the information to the public while safeguarding the rights of suspects and accused. It provides guidance for assessing what the personally identifiable information is and how to present personal information without unnecessary disclosure of the suspect or accused person’s identity. Moreover, the guidelines include recommendations on how to determine that a disclosure of identity is justified and suggest an appropriate manner for delivery of information.

Full text in English (Adobe PDF, 1.26 MB)
Full text in Bulgarian (Adobe PDF, 1.04 MB)
Full text in Greek (Adobe PDF, 500 KB)
Full text in Italian (Adobe PDF, 356 KB)
Full text in Spanish (Adobe PDF, 657 KB)