Pat Exam paper 2018 PDF

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Past exam paper for three hour exam ...

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UNIVERSITY OF KENT JN511/17

FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES LEVEL 5 EXAMINATION CENTRE FOR JOURNALISM FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION, THE LAW AND THE MEDIA

Tuesday 23 May 2017: 09:30 – 12:30

Instructions Time allowed: 3 hours There are EIGHT QUESTIONS. Candidates must answer THREE questions. Each question is equally weighted. Stationery Required – Yellow Booklet Material used in one answer should not be substantially duplicated in answer to another. Candidates may refer to a copy of Blackstone’s Statutes in Media Law, or to copies of the text of any legislation contained therein or to copies of other legislation appropriate to the module. This may be underlined, or highlighted with a translucent marker, and may have sticky labels inserted into it. Apart from the owner’s name, no writing of any kind is permitted in a book or other material, or on any sticky labels. Copies of annotated editions of the legislation are not permitted. The ‘explanatory notes’ attached to the official version of legislation are not permitted

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2 1. Is the ‘responsible publication on [a] matter of public interest’ defence, in section 4 of the Defamation Act 2013, an improvement on the Reynolds defence that it replaced?

2. It has been argued that there should be a general ‘public interest’ defence available in all legal proceedings against journalists. Is this a good idea?

3. The Misuse of Private Information tort is in dire need of statutory reform: in its present state, it does not satisfy either claimants or defendants. Discuss.

4. If a society is to be truly democratic, its citizens must have absolute freedom of speech, with no restrictions whatsoever. Discuss.

5. Should any of the Law Commission’s recent proposals on reforming the Official Secrets Acts be adopted?

6. The courts should never have the authority to order a journalist to identify a confidential source. Discuss. 7. Should speech ever be restricted on the grounds that it causes ‘offence’?

8. Technological changes over the last two decades have made large parts of the law relating to the media obsolete or ineffective. Discuss. End of paper...