Relationship between Judiciary and Media
in cooperation with Windsor University in Canada and. within the framework of the initiative "Rule of Law and Human Dignity - Karameh", funded by CIDA, the Institute of Law held a meeting on the "Relationship between Judiciary and Media" on 19 March 2008 in which the Head of the Federal Court of Canada, Judge Allan Lutfi has participated.
The meeting aimed at clarifying the role of journalists in following up on legal issues as a vital approach to achieve justice, the nature of restrictions imposed by law and professional status of judges and journalists on media coverage of justice-based issues.
In his opening address, the Director of the Media Development Center, Mr. Abdel-Naser Najjar, affirmed the importance of this meeting as part of the Karameh Initiative. He added that this initiative assists journalists to cover the news on Palestinian judiciary and its achievements, in view of the lack of expertise in this field, underscoring the role of media as an integral part of the process of attaining justice.
The Judge Lutfi indicated that the challenge is in the public's understanding of the role of the judiciary system, since the rule of law doesn't serve the judges only, but it serves nations by securing the absence of government intervention in the work of judges and courts. He explained media was not addressed by Canadian Federal Court at the time of its establishment, but presently, in view of the information explosion, there is a massive need for the role of media. He added that Canadian Federal Court resorted to the construction of a website that includes all the information related to courts, provisions and interpretations, allowing journalists to make use of this website
