In most families, apart from conveyancing activity when we buy and sell property, and maybe for the reading and disersal dealings on wills, there are very few times when anyone comes in to contact with solicitors or any other aspect of the law. We have no need to know who advises the courts and solicitors about legal aspects and updates to our statutes. We do however often hear the phrase ‘contempt of court’ in relation to current high profile court cases. A legal definition of this offence is described officially as ‘an act or omission calculaed to interfere with he administraiton of justice’. There asre also special rules governing what happens about publication that could breach the contempt laws. There are basicially three tpes of contempt that the Attorney General’s office will investigate and advice on. Publication contempt, juror contempt and contempt in a civil case. The publication contempt is getting more widely heard about – this can be something a non-journalist posts on their fb, or twitter accounts. Their fans/friends read, and share with hundreds of others, which could influence the jury and thus the outcome of a case.
