The agreement was reached between the Supreme Court of Justice and the Uruguayan Press Association, while the decision of which trial to transmit will be up to a judge.
The court hearings of public interest may be transmitted by streaming if the judge in charge of the process so decides; The agreement was made between Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) and the Uruguayan Press Association (APU)as a way to comply with the Code of Criminal Procedure.
From APU they highlighted that the objective is to disseminate those trials declared to be of public interest, especially those that are difficult to access due to location issues. “Generate in some way a right for citizens to follow those cases that are of public interest and something that is currently almost impossible,” he said. Alvaro Pan Cruz, APU leader.
In that sense, Pan Cruz assured that each case will be different and will be negotiated. “We are going to exchange between both organizations. I think there will not be two readings. In general, it is very difficult for something that is clearly of public or journalistic interest to merit more than one look. If so, obviously an agreement will be reached yes or no, but we aspire for that to be fluid,” she assured.
Judge’s decision
From the beginning, regardless of whether the trial is of public interest, the final decision is that of the judge regarding whether or not to broadcast the hearings. “It is the judge who decides yes or no, there may be reasons of privacy, reasons for the confidentiality of the summary, specific reasons that inhibit transmission according to the master’s criteria. It wouldn’t be done there. But if the judge authorizes, the entire road is paved so that this hearing has public characteristics,” explained the journalist. Xabier Lasarte.
On the other hand, from the Supreme Court of Justice, They highlighted the importance of this progress and the commitment that is needed to carry it out. “What this agreement basically does is make available to the Power of attorneythanks to the effort that the Uruguayan Press Association, of appropriate equipment for taking images and sound of a court hearing and transmitting those images and sounds through a streaming signal,” he noted. Raúl Oxandabarat, SCJ spokesperson.
“This means that both citizens in general and the media will be able to access hearings of public or journalistic interest in some cases,” he added. However, he explained that there are limited resources and that there will have to be a selection of trials. “The selection is fundamentally based on public interest and the interest that the media may have in accessing certain audiences,” he explained.
Source: Ambito
