Law Being Ubiquitous in Everyday Life - Essay Example

Introduction (4036) words Law shapes the basis of a society and facilitates its member's behaviour. Law is often portrayed as a distant phenomenon, unreachable by the ordinary public, but in reality1 law is embedded in our everyday activities in an invisible way. For decades, media was considered a " window on the world2" providing reliable information about the legal system, which was passively accepted by its vulnerable consumers. The media dominance among the uncritical public meant that, the society knowledge about the legal system is only vicarious, leaving only minority to have direct experience of the legal system3. Compared to the past, people have realised now, that media is not sufficient to provide accurate information, nor is it capable to distinguish facts from fiction, as media programmes are meant for entertainment and are selective with an intention of profit making intention4, and it would be a mistake to rely heavily on its transmission. As result, this faith on media is not as strong as it used to be and today's audience is not passive like past, but highly active and critical to media reports, treating it as 'one' of the sources in shaping their understanding of the legal system5. The importance of law in media depends on the quantity of direct experience6, which strongly influences their opinions and judgements due to its their emotional involvement in the legal proceedings. This essay will look at three different dimensions of legal consciousness and will argue that although law is often portrayed as a remote phenomenon, it is still ubiquitous in everyday life, however its presence varies from person to person according to his/her social background. The essay will also examine, how media dramatizes events, simplifies legal language and misreports legal information, selecting sensational news to increase profits. It will also argue that despite media's power and influence, personal experience of the legal system also creates knowledge of the legal system increasing public awareness. The final part of the essay argues that media relations campaign is 'one' of the key channels which can improve public confidence and that media must indulge with judiciary to communicate accurate information about legal system and its proceeding to enhance public's awareness. Law being ubiquitous in everyday life Some legal scholars see law as an important part of everyday life, whereas others assert its presence as marginal7. For years legal scholars examined subjective experiences and public perceptions of law to understand, how society forms an' internal' feature of social relations8 and to comprehend whether it is ubiquitous in social relations. Legal consciousness measures people's awareness and attitudes towards law and the legal system. Legal consciousness examines, what people 'do' and 'say9', how they engage, avoid, or resist the law. Ewick stated, that legal consciousness is shaped by "cultural schemas that define the pattern of social life10" facilitating our behaviour towards other members of society. The presence of law in everyday life and extend of legal consciousness varies and depend on person's race, education, background and experience of the legal system11. The individuals who encounter a greater personal experience are less likely to rely on media. The law is applicable in different ways and holds different meanings for people in a society as Ewick introduces three different forms of legal consciousness: before the law; with the law; and against the law12. 'Before the law', views law as an independent entity with fixed rules and procedures, but these procedures are removed from daily life affairs and are invoked only, when people turn for legal assistance13. The engagement 'with the law' states that law is perceived as a game, and law exists as a part of everyday life14. Under the 'against the law' framework states, that people resist the law, avoiding its presence in their daily activities and try to disobey wherever possible15. Thus individuals portray law differently according to their direct experience or through media; hence law is not absent in everyday life16. Both Ewick and Maccaulay mentioned, people either do not think of the law or do not notice its presence. In a society, people pay taxes and bills and drive on the left hand side or cross, divorce and write wills17, all of which are rule of law in everyday life and clearly depicts law presence as an ubiquitous in our everyday life. Media: Its sufficiency and insufficiency Macaulay,Nobles and Schiff stated, that majority of the population learn about the legal system through mass media, such as TV, newspapers and radio rather than a having spersonal experience18. Macaulay mentioned that, very few individuals actually witness civil cases, or go to jail, courtroom or contact any lawyer. Normally a court room is experienced through mass media19 as mentioned by Aubert in an investigation of Norwegian Housemaid Law 1951. 75 percent of the housewives mentioned that they heard about law and legal proceedings only from radio or in paper and only 12 percent said that have law experiences from means 20. It was this magic of media which attracted millions of people, "injecting messages into their veins21", creating 'the window on the world', and in seconds they could find out legal issues about the global world. However the critics of media consider media information biased and fragmented delivering a distorted image of law.22 .Livingstone argued on the contrary and mentioned that media offers opportunities for ordinary individuals to argue and debate over day to day issues . And it is through these "discussion programmes23" that individuals engage in public debate expressing their opinions. Professor Denvir expressed similar views and mentioned, that films are essential to learn about the law24. Media offers an opportunity for the layman to develop an understanding of the legal world. Media offers an opportunity to masses to learn and criticize the government and its leading authorities, if they go against the people's will25. Thus media is constantly engaged in shaping the cultural perception reshaping conservative viewpoints, altering our knowledge about the real world. However despite this positive role, mass media has been subjected to extensive criticism as Gies stated "media are able to corrupt the masses26". Media often provides inaccurate creating a false legal consciousness. And there has been criticism such as TV "dulls perception, flattens consciousnesspollutes27" the public view. According to Marxist theory, media is filled with bias, inaccuracy and favours only the ruling class enhancing the political and economical interests of the powerful28. The key problem has been always inefficiency of media as how 'the gatekeepers' control the distribution of the information and the accuracy of its content29. Media has been accused of oversimplifying, conflicting and misleading the individuals about the legal system. Film and television programs have commercial interests without offering any education30 misrepresenting the law. Often these programs focus on crime scenes, omitting the pre-trial hearings, jury selection and indictments. The 'wrong doer' is usually captured, but in reality the system is not always as efficient as portrayed31, thus media portrays an 'escape' from reality32, rather than reality. The main purpose of news as majority is to broadcast 'real events33', however their accuracy of reality is questionable as news have been accused of bias reporting and reporting the "negative34" activities of governmental policies. Other than that the preoccupation with commercialism also distorts news reports, forcing journalists to be selective in the in the selection of news35. Instead of reporting the events, the journalists dramatise issues, focusing on 'sensational issues to induce viewers or listeners and ignoring the less exciting news items such as the medical evidence in the Sally Clark's case36. Legal reports are written in a dry and dull language making it less appealing to the public, as result complicated details are omitted and legal issues are oversimplified in order to make them interactive for general public, which makes them entertainment, rather than information 37. This over simplicity often avoids the legal events taking place during the trial and instead journalists try to dramatise the issues38. According to Nobles that law and media exist in separate closed systems of communications: law is legal/illegal and media is information/non-information39. Thus media can only communicate within its own system, while law has a different and complex codes available only to the legal system experts. Media simplifies legal issues to make them comprehensible to the public which makes legal reports inconsistent and inaccurate. One such incident was Sally Clark's case, where media made no reference to the new findings, but instead reported on Sally's occupation and class40, which clearly illustrates, how media gives different meanings to a case, which are outside the scope of law, creating a distorted image of legal procedures. How does media 'influences' public knowledge and awareness of law The mass media acts as "hypodermic needles41" spoon-feeding messages influencing thoughts and opinions and described as a "tap on the knee model42" where h the audience was seen as vulnerable victims, whose knowledge of law was shaped by the media. According to a research (1974) viewers mentioned that TV "gives the most complete news coverage" and they are "most inclined to believe43". Moores argued that media adds to our knowledge, influences our action and shapes our personal identity. Public may form "emotional ties44" with the newsreaders over time relying on their monologues. Millie Simpson's, an interviewee from Ewick's case study had never been to court prior to the hearing claimed that "the courtroom looked the same as courts did on TV45" clearly illustrates the influence of media of law and courts on general pubic. However, there is still little evidence, what people make of the media texts to shape their understanding of law46. The encoding/decoding model demonstrates that people are not passive to media events, but pro-active and resistant towards media products47. Livingstone also arrived at a similar line of thought, arguing that individuals are critical, and capable of resisting media messages48. Thus media is "not a window on the world", but the constructed programme transmits inaccurate knowledge and people are not the "empty vessels waiting to be filled49" by commercialised media messages so easily. Majority of the people are "media savvy50" however those with personal experience are prone to rely on their own experiences than to rely on the TV transmissions. Gamson claimed that media plays limited role in shaping individuals opinions, who have who have first hand experience of law51. People are more likely to rely on their own experiences or of friends and relatives have 'emotional proximity' and a 'feeling of trust52'. Moores argued that "electronic communication has not totally removed the desire to be physically and emotionally close to otherscompulsion of proximity is alive and well53". Thus it is natural to rely to depend on information received from personal sources compared to media coverage. 'Personal experiences' shapes our knowledge and awareness of law Gies conducted fact-to-face discussions with ordinary people to understand, how personal experiences contributes to shape the legal knowledge. Gies observed that public preferred to refer to first hand experience, reporting them in a detail and with greater emotional involvement54 showing media is less relied upon as its stories lack depth and detail, and appear "throwaway comments".55 The rape of a trial investigation shows how legal knowledge is shaped through direct experience. One such example is 'Anna' who was a rape victim criticised the inefficiency of the legal system. Her rapist was accused rapping seven, but was acquitted of all cases 56 and 'walked free' creating a negative image of legal system as she made the following comment," I said what I had to say and to them it is nothing. The defence counsel did not seem to listen or even try to understand what I was sayingmy prosecutor did not defend me in any waythere is no such thing as justice that is what I truly believenow I understand why so few women take rape to court"57 If Anna really was raped, law could not provide her justice as Merry noticed that many people criticise legal institutions 58 on the basis of their personal negative experiences. Gies mentioned that it is such personal experiences, which shape one's knowledge; as a result awareness of law will depend on race, class and locality59. Even though law is present in our everyday but it's the working class "who trip over it all the time60", and harassed for different reasons. Working class persons often saw law as "an unfulfilled promise61". Single mothers criticise the inefficiency of the housing units, and the Child Support Agency, and complain that the public services promise on paper differs from their real performances. It is normal to see that 'black men' are more vulnerable to police harassment as opposed to white men. Similarly locality also plays a vital part as an interviewee Ben mentioned "I get harassed because I live in this area62". Police on the other hand were seen as incompetent, holding wrong priorities63. Failing to do their job properly, as when Ben's car got smashed there was no one to stop the wrongdoers, but when Ben drove on a bald tire police were on the streets. Such testimonies constitute in constructing legality, as legal knowledge develops through experience. The importance of subjective experiences was illustrated in Cowan's observation of 'unsuccessful' homeless applicants who applied to the HPU64 for housing benefits. Individuals criticised legal schemas and claimed that they were treated 'disrespectfully' and their dignity was unnerved65. Similarly in Anna case, interviewee said that officers did not even listen to what she had to say, making her feel powerless, simply stuck: "I was telling them personal thingsand it was just being brushed under the carpetjust on one side66". People often observe that law is only concerned with 'statistics', 'book' requirements, viewing people from an aloof corner. Others observe why should "asylum - seekers" hold priority to the housing assistance over the British Citizens, and the comments like, they get "grants to furnish it67" and we get "nothing68". And in such cases applicants also noted that law is very segmented and discriminatory with no legal authority "one would get nowhere69", but once a lawyer is involved 'suddenly' officers become concerned with your wants and needs. Cowan and Gies stated that individuals complained about the 'obscured' legal language and often referred to the decision letters as "bullshit70" mentioning the language of bureaucracy meaningless "jargon71". Interviewee were baffled and questioned "What you call it...The Housing Act 1996What is that."72"And the reason is that the legal language is incomprehensible for ordinary people. While other's 'play' with the law and 'go by the book' to obtain what they want. Legal knowledge thus varies on the nature of experience and can be judged as a helpful device. Personal experiences as opposed to TV based products illustrate a 'real' interaction with law and it is these experiences, which construct public negative knowledge of law. Improvement of public confidence Improvement of public confidence in the legal system is vital to uphold a healthy democratic society. People need to be aware as LJ Jude expressed that "the whole system of justice belongs to the community at large73" and not a distinct property owned only by the legal authorities. Media alone is not sufficient in improving public confidence in the legal system; the involvement judiciary is essential to deliver effective messages. Judiciary must step into the limelight and provide information about the judicial system to the public. Judges must target the media, if they do not correct the existing, false representation of the law, no one else will74. Judges are partly blame for the existing erroneous beliefs, as they never made any effort to help journalists to deliver accurate information75. For decades judges were seen as distinct from the government, operating upon the long-standing framework of independence. Judges were the masters of the court76, perceived as respectful professionals, whose independence had to be protected from media intrusion and criticism77. Consequently judges had no obligation to respond to criticisms and engage in discussions with the media as this could undermine their impartiality. LJ Kilmur's78 'silence' restriction in 1955 dominated their operations, imposing a limited freedom of speech and they were prohibited from discussing or giving their personal opinions beyond the walls of the courtroom79. But this view is no longer at stake; today a 'cloistered' and silent judge is no longer acceptable. Freedom of expression is a fundamental part of a democratic society, public has a right to receive information to avoid abuse of power by authorities to protect their human rights80. Media scrutiny of judicial work is beneficial as it tempers the inappropriate judicial behaviour, protecting public against the wrong and bias judgements81. Criticisms of judiciary are viewed healthy and constructive 82. The Judges must assist the media to improve the quality of media reporting as CJ Doyle expressed that judicial interaction with the media can exist via their "own programme83" where the key features of their work can be discussed. Livingstone arrived at a more interactive approach of communication, and mentioned that media discussions are ideal to engage people in resolve their doubts84. The reforms introduced by the CR Act 2005, judges now hold possession of their own press office to undertake effective root of communication85. Dutch courts are the champions of the communication approach, relying on 'press judges' and 'communication advisors' who act as spokespersons for the courts86. These press judges write annual reports for journalists, publish press statements and combine it with daily judicial work, making Dutch approach of legal communication very effective. 'Too close' relationships with the media could be damaging for judge. A judge, who expresses his opinion 'too vigorously', can be accused of lack of impartiality87. Lack of time88 is also an issue, however judges do not need to act 'single handed89'. Despite all this discussion, the main problem as Nobles has mentioned, that there are two closed systems of communication which can't be united90. Media must be guided by the courts and allow journalist to accurately report the real event. Section 10 of the ECHR, notes that media needs to be controlled. Judges have an authority to restrict media scope if it will appear abusive91. Both judges and media hold common interests as they depend on one another. Public confidence can be improved and courts need to have group discussions giving people a voice92 as 'positive' personal experience plays a huge role. One such example of a positive experience was addressed by Ewick, who commented on Rita Michells "pleasant" court experience and associated her divorce case as" good feeling" and "kind attitude of a judge"93. Judicial participation in improving public confidence is not enough. A judge may clarify and his clarification is unlikely to improve Ben's view of 'police efficiency' that were absent from the scene when his car windows got smashed. Secondly, judges must change their 'attitude' and 'treatment' of normal people and make them feel 'listened to' during the trial rather abandoned or excluded. Judges should realise that people want to be treated with self-respect and dignity. They go to court because they see it as an institution of justice, holding a power and responsibility to protect their rights. Conclusion Although law is ubiquitous in everyday life, yet its presence is often seen as a mysterious or invisible. Law shapes the framework of our society and is embedded in our everydayness to such extend that it is often portrayed as a silent, natural and invisible part of social life. Gies is right in maintaining that the presence of law in everyday life depends on one's social identity and locality. For some law is a peaceful specimen, absent from their daily lives, but for others it is seen as harassment, nuisance, limiting our scope of action, making us powerless. Public is more "media savvy94" and critical to media transmissions provided that one had a direct contact with legality. The influence of the media in shaping people's knowledge and awareness of law varies and depends on the quantity of personal experience and on the understanding, how TV programmes are selected, fragmented and dramatized to comply with the economic interests. Media is an insufficient source of legal knowledge as it exaggerates the legal issues, and is often accused of transmitting bias judgements clouding the reality. The insufficiency of the media as Nobles identified rests on the fact that media communicates law within its own, closed system of communication, reshaping the events for news value, simplifying the legal language to make it comprehensible to the lay public. It is evident that subjective experiences are more influential in constructing legality and direct experience overtakes media input. Both subjective experiences and media reports generally portray law in a negative light as noticed by Merry that only minority returns to court, treating legal institutions as erratic and unreliable. LJ Doyle is correct in arguing that judges must intervene and communicate messages to the public via the media. Media relations campaign with judicial involvement is a key channel via which public confidence can improve, as media addresses the whole society. The claim that direct communication undermines judicial impartiality and independence can be swiftly rejected, compared with Dutch effective mechanisms of communication i.e. press judges95. The application of article 10 of the ECHR96 can automatically limit media's freedom of speech, if the reports become too abusive. Judicial involvement is therefore indispensable to rectify the erroneous misconceptions of law. Judicial interaction is not the only 'mean' of communication to reach successful ends. Court visits, group discussions, leaflets and positive personal experience are all evenly imperative. A judicial attitude towards the public during a court hearing is a vital ingredient, which shapes the public knowledge of the legal system. The concept of ideal society has been alive in history, since the time of Plato, Moore and Marx. It is tempting to dream of a society where people do not suffer nor are they discriminated on the basis of race, sex, religion or ethnic backgrounds. Justice is the chief asset in any society to settle advantages and responsibilities between individuals. The distribution of justice needs an executing body to make and enforce laws and contracts, re-distribute wealth and tax, punish the evil and award the innocent. If this system is broken up and all individuals are allowed to do what they feel good, there will no common definition of good and society would be unable to function. In order to maintain true justice, it becomes equally important for both media and courts to come closer to the people and report accurately and listen to them, as only this will allow the smooth functioning of a free and democratic society. Reference: 1. P. Ewick & S. Silbey (1989), The Common Place of Law: Stories from everyday life ,Chicago University Press. 2. Downing.J (1990), Questioning The Media: a Critical Introduction,(Sage Publications. 3. Nobles and Schiff, (2004) A Story of Miscarriage: Law in the Media, Journal of Law and Society, vol. 31. 4. Gies.L (2003) Explaining the Absence of the Media in Stories of Law and Legal Consciousness, Entertainment Law, Vol. 2. 5. Cowan.D (2004), Legal Consciousness: Some Observation, Modern Law Review, Vol. 67, Blackwell Publishing. 6. Gies.L (2005), The Empire Strikes Back: Press Judges and Communication Advisers in Dutch Courts, Journal of Law and Society, Vol. 32. 7. Zemans.K (1996), From Chambers to Community, Judicature, Vol. 80. 8. Addo.M (2000), Can the independence of the Judiciary Withstand Criticism An Introduction to the Criticism of Judges in Europe, Aldershot: Ashgate. 9. Merry.S (1990), Getting Justice and Getting Even: Legal Consciousness among working-class Americans, Chicago Press. 10. Moores.S (2000), Media and Everyday Life in Modern Society, EUP. 11. Jude,L.J (2005), Accessed on December 21,2005, Available at < http://www.dca.gov.uk/judicial/speeches/ljj261104.htm> 12. Woof.L (2005), Accessed on 21 December 21, 2005, Available at 13. Judge,L.J (2005), Accessed on December 22, 2005, Available at < http://www.dca.gov.uk/judicial/speeches/ljj100105.htm> 14. Doyle. J (1997), Bastion: Judicial Independence in the Nineties and Beyond. 15. Lees.S (1996), Carnal Knowledge Rape of Trial, Penguin Books. Read More