SCOTTISH ministers have rejected laws proposed for England and Wales that would see media forced to remove archived web stories that may affect upcoming criminal trials.
Nine of the UK's biggest news organisations have already objected to a new bill that would allow Westminster's Attorney General and the courts to force them to censor their websites of any material that might prejudice court proceedings.
The media, including the BBC, believe that such proposals, contained in the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill, would have a potentially chilling effect on their coverage of legal actions.
However, it is understood Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill rejected overtures from the UK Government for similar legislation to apply north of the border.
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "We do not propose to replicate these changes. We have put in place robust protections for the independence of the courts and the judiciary and believe that decisions on contempt of court are best left to the courts themselves."
A group of the BBC, ITN, Channel 4, The Guardian, Telegraph, Express, Independent, Daily Mail and Times have formally objected to the new laws proposed England and Wales.
UK officials fear that the right to a fair trial is affected if jurors view news stories about those in the dock, including previous convictions. Mainstream news organisations, which do not link to archive materials about accused persons in court reports, argue that specific measures preventing jurors for carrying out their own online research should suffice to ensure a fair trial.
The group wrote: "We are concerned that the introduction of these new powers could introduce a chilling effect on the operation and accessibility of public news archives, and ask Parliament to reconsider."
"The press has a duty to report court proceedings in its capacity as public watchdog. Any restrictions on this freedom have to be proportionate and no more than are necessary," the submission says.
"We believe that news archives are best viewed by analogy with a newspaper library. Contemporary publications on the internet can be distinguished from archives due to the necessity with the latter to apply search criteria which is a quite deliberate and directed act."
Scotland has removed the old legal safeguard of double jeopardy, meaning it is now possible to be prosecuted for the same crime twice. Any juror in such a trial would be instructed not to view previous stories on the case.
They argue that the measures are unnecessary, particularly since other clauses in the bill create a specific offence for jurors who research a case during the trial period.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "The Scottish Government does not propose to replicate these changes. We have put in place robust protections for the independence of the courts and the judiciary and believe that decisions on contempt of court are best left to the courts."
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