A Bill to prohibit the publication of certain information regarding persons who have been arrested until they have been charged with an offence; to set out the circumstances where such information can be published without committing an offence; and for connected purposes.
The Bill would prohibit the publication or broadcast of the name, address or image of a person arrested for an offence if such information would be likely to lead members of the public to identify him or her as the person suspected of committing that offence. These reporting restrictions would remain in force unless and until the arrested person was charged with the offence for which they had been arrested.
The Bill also provides that, in certain circumstances, a Crown Court judge would be able to direct that the reporting restrictions should not apply, for example if publishing the identity of the suspect might lead to new complainants or witnesses coming forward.