Example media dissertation topic 2:

To blog or not to blog: The plight of the UK judiciary.

In a recent decision the Senior Presiding Judge set new guidelines banning judges from blogging as just that: judges, as the purported new guidance states that, ‘blogging by members of the judiciary is not prohibited. However, officer holders who blog (or who post comments on other people’s blogs) must not identify themselves as members of the judiciary’. Moreover, the guidelines allow for the retrospective discipline of judges who failed to remove previously posted judicial blogs. This dissertation investigates whether, under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, judges in the UK can – or should be – banned from blogging in a manner that identifies that they hold judicial office. Finally, the paper explores the differences between judges writing books – per the Rt. Hon. Lord Justice Sedley – and using social media.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• O’Brien, A. (2009). ‘Are attorneys and judges one Tweet, blog or friend request away from facing a disciplinary committee?’, Loyola Journal of Public and International Law, 11, p. 511.
• Sedley, S. (2011). Ashes and sparks: Essays on law and justice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Wagner, A. (2012). ‘Let the judges blog’, UK Human Rights Blog, One Crown Office Row, available at: http://ukhumanrightsblog.com/2012/08/15/let-the-judges-blog/.