Malaysian journalists, particularly editors, are being unnecessarily intimidated by wrongly invoking the sub-judice rule when reporting court cases, an eminent jurist said today.

Param Cumaraswamy, vice-president of the International Commission of Jurists, said there was a "wide misconception" that has led to self-censorship in most Malaysian newsrooms when reporting on court trials.

"There is no real appreciation of the distinction between jury trials as in some countries and cases that are heard by professional judges such as in Malaysia," he said at the World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) event in Kuala Lumpur.

Noting the media's fixation on using the sub-judice rule the moment a case is filed in court, he said editors should look at the context of each case by asking if the report will affect the trial.

"Otherwise, anyone can file anything in court just to gag the press," said Param, who is the president of the Malaysian chapter of Transparency International (TI).

"The rule is not to comment on the outcome of the trial or the parties involved. Factual reporting is fine but not something that can impinge on the trial itself," he added.

Recognising the general perception among local media practitioners, Param said the fear is that news reports would lead to a trial by media with the accused getting an unfair trial due to a prejudiced jury or witnesses.

"The question is, who gets prejudiced? Jury and witnesses could be prejudiced by media reports of an ongoing trial but that is because they are lay persons," he said.

"In the case of Malaysia, we have professional judges hearing cases in the absence of a jury system and they are not supposed to be influenced by media reports. Judges are trained to remain impartial regardless of media reports."

Caution needed

Param, however, said that media practitioners needed to be cautious when reporting on a case at the trial stage as opposed to when it goes on appeal.

"When a case goes on appeal, the judges should not be concerned with extraneous reports or comments on the case," he added.

The WPFD forum themed 'Media and Good Governance' attended by about 100 people was jointly organised by the Asian Institute of Development Communication, the National Press Club and the Malaysian Press Institute. The Embassy of Finland sponsored the event.

The Hindu editor N Ravi delivered the keynote address entitled 'The Nature and Purpose of a Free Press'.

In conjunction with this year's WPFD celebration, TI also announced a national award for journalists to be given beginning next year.

Param, who made the announcement at the end of the forum, said reports aired or published between now and next May will be eligible for nomination for the Best Journalist Award.

Speaking to reporters later, he said the move was to promote more write-ups on transparency, integrity and accountability in Malaysia.

"It is to encourage journalists, both young and seniors in the Malaysian press and periodicals, to promote better values in good governance," he said.

"We welcome investigative journalism in recognition of the risks taken by journalists in filing their in-depth sense modality," he added.

He said the award is confined to Malaysian journalists from all media such as print, electronic and the Internet. Language is also no barrier to nomination.

"At the moment, we are looking at one category, that is, the best journalist, and are working out the modality."

Media laws review

He said the TI's executive committee had decided on the idea of an award as part of its commitment towards promoting journalism in combating corruption.

"We consider journalism as pivotal to good governance," he said, adding that the TI award was also to commemorate the 2006 WPFD celebrations together with the Aidcom.

Param, a member of the international board of global free expression advocate Article 19, said TI was also looking at a review of several media laws.

"In line with that, we are looking to the enactment of a Freedom of Information Act and the Whistleblowers Protection Act because these are useful tools to combat corruption, something the government is focusing on now."

He said they were trying to get parliamentarians to support the initiative.

Also present were senior media practitioners and academics, representatives from the diplomatic corp and the United Nations, and university and college students.