The sub judice convention: what to do when a matter is 'before the courts'. From: Canadian Parliamentary Review | Date: December 22, 2007| Author: Steele, Graham | COPYRIGHT 2007 Canadian Parliamentary Association. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.Copyright information

The sub judice convention is a constraint imposed by Parliament on itself to ensure a reasonable balance between free speech for parliamentarians and fair trials for accused persons. In this article the author argues that the sub judice convention is commonly misunderstood. Many believe the rule is "you can't talk about any matter that is before the courts." This article argues that is too broad an interpretation. When used in this way, the sub judice convention has a tendency to s...