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Reporting Restriction Checker — Court, Case Type and Stage of Proceedings

The UK reporting-restriction regime is a patchwork: some restrictions are automatic and need no order, some are discretionary and only bite if a judge has made one, and the difference is invisible from the press bench unless you already know which is which.

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Reporting Restriction Checker

Select the court, case type, stage of proceedings and whether an under-18 witness or victim is involved to see which UK reporting restrictions are likely to apply, with the relevant statute.

Not legal advice. This tool flags commonly applicable restrictions only. Individual court orders (postponement, anonymity, reporting-restriction orders under s.4(2) or s.11 CCA 1981) can add or lift restrictions in a specific case — always check for a live order before publishing.

Select all four options above to see applicable reporting restrictions.

How it works

  • Four dropdowns — court (magistrates, Crown, youth, family, coroner, Court of Appeal), case type (adult, youth, sexual offence, terrorism, immigration, family welfare, inquest), stage (pre-proceedings, active, sentencing, appeal), and whether an under-18 witness or victim is confirmed to be involved.
  • It returns a numbered list of restrictions, each with a title, a plain explanation and the statutory source. The distinctions it draws carefully are worth the visit: automatic s.49 CYPA 1933 anonymity in the Youth Court against discretionary s.45 YJCEA 1999 protection elsewhere, and the fact that s.49 does not protect an adult defendant appearing in a youth court.
  • A sexual offence returns the lifetime complainant anonymity under s.1 of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992, which runs from the moment the allegation is made regardless of outcome. Separately, confirming an under-18 witness or victim in the fourth dropdown returns the discretionary s.45 YJCEA restriction — which lasts only until that person turns 18 — and the s.45A YJCEA power to extend it into their adulthood. Both now apply in any criminal court, not only the Crown Court, and to any case type, not only sexual offences; neither is shown for the Youth Court or a youth defendant, where s.49’s automatic protection already covers anyone under 18 in the case.
  • Selecting the pre-proceedings stage returns a prominent warning that proceedings become active at the earliest of arrest without warrant, warrant, summons, service of an indictment or oral charge, and that the main pre-charge risk is defamation and privacy rather than contempt, citing ZXC v Bloomberg.
  • A coroner’s court or inquest selection returns its own set of cards: a discretionary CYPA 1933 s.39 restriction on an under-18 witness once you’ve confirmed one, an explanation of why s.11 CCA 1981 does not itself create a power to suppress a name already said in open court, and s.4(2) postponement as the coroner’s main remaining lever once evidence is public.

When to use it

  • Before covering an unfamiliar court or case type, to see which restrictions are automatic and which need an order.
  • When a youth defendant is being tried at the Crown Court and you need the s.49 versus s.45 distinction stated clearly.
  • On a terrorism case, where linked-trial postponement orders are common and easy to miss.
  • At the pre-charge stage, when the question is not contempt but whether naming a suspect is defensible at all.
  • Before an inquest or a tribunal hearing, where the powers to restrict come from a different statute than in the criminal courts.

What it does not do

  • Not legal advice. It flags commonly applicable restrictions from four dropdowns and nothing more; breaching a restriction is a criminal matter.
  • It cannot see whether an order exists in your case. It has no input for a live s.4(2) or s.11 order and no connection to court listings or the Criminal Procedure Rules Part 6 register — a specific order can add restrictions this tool does not show, or lift ones it does.
  • Whether an under-18 witness or victim exists is still self-reported in the fourth dropdown — the tool has no way to verify age or witness status itself, so answering it inaccurately produces a wrong result in either direction.
  • It covers England and Wales. There are no Scottish or Northern Irish courts in the list, and the statutes cited do not all apply there.
  • It lists restrictions; it does not tell you what you may still safely publish about a given case, and it says nothing about jigsaw identification — the risk that details individually permitted combine to identify a protected person.

More tools

This is one of the free tools on UK JournoHub. See the full tools index for the rest.

Related guides

LawReporting restrictionsRead →Court reportingYouth court and section 49Read →Court reportingSexual offences anonymityRead →Court reportingChallenging a reporting restrictionRead →LawFamily court reportingRead →

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