Communication strategies for supreme courts in today’s digital world
ENCommunication by the judiciary is important, as providing general information about the justice system contributes to the accessibility of justice. Communication influences society’s trust in the judiciary. Not only because interaction with the public helps people to understand and accept the decisions rendered by the judiciary, but also because communication is also an image-making tool. The public’s perception of the judiciary is based on the information it receives. The judiciary is, however, not the most influential judicial image-maker, as the media play an important image-making role. Sometimes the media however misinform society. Therefore today it is believed that the judiciary itself should actively inform the public. In this paper we will specifically focus on communication by Supreme Courts. New technologies and social media offer Supreme Courts new possibilities to communicate with society. The question rises if these modern communication methods are suitable for communication by the judiciary. Based on existing research and a survey sent out to all Supreme Courts of the EU, best practices regarding the use of social media and websites by the Supreme Courts are identified.
