SA Judges not swayed by social media
A litigation attorney says that the fact that South African law does not adopt a jury system means that the outcome of a trial is unlikely to be influenced by public opinion generated by social media sites such as Twitter.
Oscar Pistorius will appear in a South African court on Tuesday (4 June 2013) for a preliminary hearing in the murder case of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp; and while legal experts believe his appearance will be brief, the furore created on social networks has been anything but, and is likely to escalate.
Kerry Plots, a Senior Associate in the Dispute Resolution Department at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr Inc, says that given the high-profile nature of Pistorius’ case, the decision in the trial will be subjected to immense scrutiny.
“And if Pistorius is convicted it is likely that he will launch an appeal. The judge’s findings will therefore need to be well-reasoned and fully supported by the law.”
She noted that Chief Magistrate Desmond Nair delivered a lengthy judgment that was read out over two hours in Pistorius’ bail application in February for this very reason.
Plots said that, while a judge presiding over the Pistorius case will unavoidably be exposed to what is being said in the public arena through the media and on social networks, there will be significant pressure on him or her to act even more responsibly as a guardian of the law.
The effect of social media is a concern in countries such as the United States where social networks and other public forums could be used to influence potential jurors before the trial has even started. South African trials are not decided by a jury and as such “an accused cannot be tried in the court of public opinion,” said Plots.
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