Foroyaa is yet to remember a case where witnesses are punished to have been subjected to any threat because of testimony before a court. The paper is open to any evidence of such a development.
Courts are social institutions. They are about people and for people. They are in fact schools that teach the public not to take the law into their own hands. Through proper dispensation of justice, the courts are integrated in the community as institutions of socialization that enable communities to know what is right and wrong to do and prevent misconduct by indicating the implications.
This is precisely why courts should at all times be open to the public, especially the media. Opaque courts do not deliver transparent justice. Those who administer the courts are trained and should know what is reasonable and justifiable in a democratic society.
The media and public are at their mercy. History is recording all developments in the courts. Posterity will determine whether they are true to the dictum not only to deliver justice but to be seen by the whole of society to have done so independently and impartially in good faith in the public interest. There is need to rethink holding cases in camera. It could only be a norm at the detriment of the media and the public at large that has freedom to receive information institutions.
