In a significant legal overhaul, authorities in England and Wales could soon release more detailed information about crime suspects to combat the spread of online misinformation following high-profile incidents.
Reforming Contempt of Court Laws
The Law Commission of England and Wales has put forward recommendations that would allow publishing details such as a suspect's name, age, nationality, ethnicity, religion or immigration status, stating this will generally not create risk of contempt of court. However, what can be published will still depend on individual circumstances.
Under the proposed changes, criminal proceedings would become active when a person is charged, rather than at the point of arrest. Once proceedings are active, the test for contempt would be whether a publication creates a substantial risk that justice and a fair trial will be seriously impeded or prejudiced.
The Southport Attack and Information Vacuum
The review examined contempt laws in the age of social media after concerns emerged following the Southport attack on 29 July 2024, where three children - Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, and Bebe King, six - were murdered.
After the attacks, significant public disorder unfolded across the UK, leading to hundreds of prosecutions. The perpetrator, Axel Rudakubana, 18, was sentenced to a minimum of 52 years on 20 January 2025.
Merseyside Police faced criticism for not revealing Rudakubana's ethnicity when he was arrested. Within hours of the attack, online posts falsely claimed the suspect was a 17-year-old asylum seeker who had arrived in the country by boat the previous year.
The Law Commission noted that the disorder was potentially an indirect result of contempt of court laws, explaining that constraints on what information public authorities could disclose helped create an information vacuum into which misinformation and disinformation spread unchecked.
Clarity for Police and Media
The commission emphasized there was a pressing need for clarity on what can be published when proceedings are active, particularly for public authorities. Their approach is already reflected in interim guidance issued by the National Police Chiefs' Council and the College of Policing.
In August, police forces were instructed to share suspects' ethnicity and nationality with the public after authorities faced accusations of covering up offences committed by asylum seekers.
The commission stated that guidance about what information is generally safe to publish provides clarity and consistency for both police and media, though any legal risk must still be assessed in context.
Professor Penney Lewis, the commissioner for criminal law, said the review found significant problems with coherence, consistency and clarity across civil, criminal and family courts. She added that the reforms will make contempt law fairer and more predictable, benefiting the public, media and court participants.
The News Media Association welcomed the developments, with director of legal Sayra Tekin emphasizing that any reform must strengthen the principle of open justice and ensure timely, reliable access to information for journalists.
It's estimated that more than 100 people receive prison sentences each year for contempt of court. Part Two of the Law Commission's report, covering powers, procedure, sanctions, costs and appeals, will be published in 2026, with the government now considering which recommendations to implement.
