Rules on media court conduct?
The electronic media must adopt a code of conduct to protect ordinary citizens involved in court cases from the unsolicited attentions of television cameras, while imposing some order on the coverage of judicial disputes, the government warned on Saturday. Speaking at a three-day conference of the Union of Administrative Judges in the northwestern town of Ioannina, Justice Minister Philippos Petsalnikos said he wanted to establish «a framework of rules to protect citizens from what, in my opinion, constitutes a significant threat to all of us from the excessive involvement and the inconsiderate intrusion of the electronic media into the workings of justice.» «It is excessive that TV cameras are omnipresent even during the trial… and not due to any sincere interest but propelled by the popularity ratings that drive them to feed on human pain,» Petsalnikos added. He also criticized TV debates among so-called legal experts, which, he said, resemble the squabbling neighbors of an apartment block. «Justice should be done by those appointed to do so,» he said
