Contempt of court advice to be shared with social media users

Facebook and Twitter users have been warned they could be inadvertently breaking the law by commenting on court cases online.

The UK Government’s chief legal adviser will in future issue previously unpublished advisory notes to help prevent social media users committing a contempt of court.

Attorney General Dominic Grieve QC said the advisories, which have previously been issued only to print and broadcast media outlets on a “not for publication” basis, are designed to ensure fair trials take place.

The attorney general said he has changed the policy to stop the public tripping over legal pitfalls by commenting on court cases in a potentially prejudicial manner.

Mr Grieve said: “In days gone by, it was only the mainstream media that had the opportunity to bring information relating to a court case to such a large group of people that it could put a court case at risk.

“That is no longer the case and is why I have decided to publish the advisories that I have previously only issued to the media.

“This is not about telling people what they can or cannot talk about on social media quite the opposite in fact, it’s designed to help facilitate commentary in a lawful way.”