Court reporting makes judiciary transparent, accountable: experts

Legal experts and legal beat reporters have stressed the need of in-depth reporting on the judiciary system and processes to make it more transparent, accountable and incorruptible.

Speaking at an interaction programme organised by the Freedom Forum Nepal on judiciary reporting and challenges faced by the journalists, former secretary of the Judicial Council Kashi Raj Dahal said media should also be able to report on the misconducts and corruption by the justices. "Fair reporting makes judges remain conscious to give fair justice to people," he said.

Senior legal expert Dr Shankar Kumar Shrestha claimed that judicial processes in Nepal was not completely fair as misconducts of the judges do not come to media. He also said judges never follow code of conduct made for them which does not allow the judges to attend public functions except of the judiciary.

Bringing out facts about irregularities in judiciary is not only to make it responsive to people but also to protect the rights of those who fail to get justice, he said.

Journalist Krishna Murari Bhandari said inaction against the corrupted judges has helped to hide misconduct in judiciary.

Chairman of Freedom Forum Tara Nath Dahal said dialogue on court reporting and coordination between the court and media was necessary to make judiciary system fair and transparent. nepalnews.com ia Oct 20 06