§ 26. Sir Percy Hurdasked the Home Secretary whether his attention has been 1158 called to the order issued by the chief magistrate at Bow Street Police Court that, in future, occupations and addresses of defendants before the court must not be reported unless they are disclosed in court; and whether, in view of the injustice which may be caused by the non-publication of addresses and occupations in many cases through similarity of names between innocent and offending persons, he will consider whether there is any action he can take in the matter?
§ Sir S. HoareI have made inquiries about this matter, and I think there may have been some misapprehension as to the position. The Metropolitan Magistrates are anxious not to hamper in any way the legitimate reporting of particulars showing the identity of persons charged in the courts; and in order to assist the Press representatives it is their practice to allow them to see the charge sheets so that they may be able to report accurately the names and other particulars mentioned in the course of the public proceedings in court. The charge sheets, however, are not public documents. They are documents prepared by the police and may contain items of information which ought not to be made public. Accordingly, the magistrates have only felt justified in allowing the Press representatives to see these documents on the understanding that they do not use them for the purpose of supplementing the information given in the courts at the public hearing. This has always been the condition on which the privilege of access to these documents has been granted. If compliance with this condition causes any practical difficulties to the Press in reporting such particulars as are necessary for the identification of defendants, I should be glad to arrange a conference with Press representatives for the purpose of examining in detail the nature of those difficulties.