A series of round tables "Courts-media interaction. Modern models of cooperation" for journalists were organized by the EU/COE Joint Project “Consolidation of Justice Sector Policy Development in Ukraine” in cooperation with USAID Fair Justice Project and European Union Advisory Mission Ukraine (EUAM Ukraine). The three events took place on 19 May in Mykolaiv, on 24 May in Dnipro and on 26 May in Zaporizhzhya and were aimed at discussing the experience of journalists on working with courts.
Effective communication between courts and the public through media is important for restoring public trust in the judicial system, which used to be closed to public in the past. Representatives of the judiciary informed the participating journalists about the latest developments such as creation of positions of PR specialists in courts, appointment of judges-speakers and functioning of the press centre of the judiciary.
International and national experts shared with the audience their experience regarding cooperation between the media and courts, reporting on high-profile cases and announced the publication of the manual "Judicial journalism", which should facilitate the work of journalists covering the courts. Participants expressed their interest to have similar initiatives at local and national level in the future to improve interaction between courts and the media.