Guide for Journalists on Documenting International Crimes
In 2022, the Centre for Law and Democracy and News Media Europe launched the Guide for Journalists on How to Document International Crimes, with concrete recommendations for journalists and editors on how to capture information about international crimes so that it may be admitted as evidence in court. News professionals are often the first observers to arrive at international crime scenes and may be in a position to document them at an early stage, which is invaluable since evidence often degrades with time.
The Guide provides advice about several legal issues in a way that is accessible to non-legal experts, including:
- Privileges regarding the protection of confidential sources and not having to testify
- What constitutes an international crime
- Different types of evidence and basic rules regarding admissibility of evidence
- How to gather information in a way that promotes its legal reliability and tips on doing this
- Interviewing victims and witnesses
The Guide also includes a section on Resources with links to various written documents, apps and civil society organisations which can provide support.
The Guide is available in English here, Burmese here, Ukrainian here and Russian here.
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