The impact of social media on the rights of the accused in Jordan: Does public opinion matter?

Abstract

This study shows how publishing, commenting, and analyzing crime details via social media can play a role in shaping public opinion and influences the proper conduct of criminal justice. It also discusses the impact of social media on the presumption of innocence, the confidentiality of investigation, and the judge’s emotional conviction by examining the most important cases that Jordan has witnessed recently and have had a wide resonance on social media. In addition, the paper clarifies the legal opinion on the permissibility of publishing and commenting on such issues in Jordanian legislation with reference to some of the relevant international agreements. The author employed the analytical methodology by using the document analysis of official legal documents in relation to social media in Jordan legislations and drew upon relevant international agreements and court rulings for our research. The research concluded that the presumption of innocence and the confidentiality of investigations conducted by the Public Prosecution must be respected, and that everything that might affect the proper conduct of criminal justice should be avoided.

Keywords

• social media
• networks
• publishing
• public opinion
• good functioning of criminal justice
• presumption of innocence