Balancing the Bounds of Tamed Freedom in the Freedom of Information Act, 2011: Contempt and Subjudice as Anti-thesis for Judicial Correspondents in Nigeria

Abstract

The paper examines several matters arising for judicial correspondents in the light of the Freedom of Information Act (FOI Act) with special bias towards highlighting the key indices for ensuring a fair and balanced reportage of judicial proceedings in Nigeria by Judicial correspondents. It is restated that whilst the purpose of the Act is to make public records and information more freely available to the public, including all and sundry, it is not a free-for-all avenue to share fake news, untrue reports, manipulative or misleading reports of facts especially from the court rooms or to report complete falsehood to sensationalise news to the general public. Thus, whilst the Act seeks to protect serving public officers against any adverse consequences from the unauthorised disclosure of certain kinds of official information and establish procedures for the achievement of these purposes, it is posited that it should equally be used to enhance the capacity of news reporters to adequately and effectively give fair, balanced, unbiased and objective reportage of news and information, especially from the courtrooms. The paper notes that the Act will enable citizens to hold the government accountable in the event of misappropriation of public funds or failure to deliver public services on one hand, whilst it will aid judicial correspondents give timely, fair and unbiased reports, even though the Act provides that a public institution may deny an application for information that is subject to the following privileges – legal practitioner-client privilege; health workers- client privilege; journalism confidentiality privilege; and any other professional privileges confidently by the Act.[1] The paper further assesses amongst other things, the extent of the implementation of the FOI Act 2011, the challenges confronting its applicability, the right of access to government (executive and judicial) information; the role of the FOI Act in positively affecting effective journalistic practice, especially on judicial reporting, as well as highlighting the prospects of the Act. The paper further contends that Freedom of Information is a fundamental indicator of economic development and progress, a step in the right direction towards stimulating effective journalism practices towards fair, balanced, accurate and objective judicial reporting, even though not all access can be had to all government or court-held information in spite of the passage of the Act. The paper recommends that judicial correspondents should go beyond just being aware of the passage into law of the FOI Act 2011, but be well acquainted with relevant provisions of the Act, get trained, towards the effective and balanced reportage of judicial information, continuous and effective implementation of the FOI Act, especially as a strengthened Freedom of Information regime will enhance a fair and objective reportage of judicial pronouncements.