THERE should be a crackdown on the misuse of social media during sexual offences cases, a retired appeal court judge has said.
Sir John Gillen said the "hammer of the law should come down on those who indulge in misconduct".
The former judge is carrying out an independent review into how the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland deals with serious sexual offence cases and said it was vital to tackle jurors' use of social media.
His review follows the high profile court case that saw Ulster and Ireland rugby players Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding found not guilty of rape.
Sir John has also suggested that members of the public could be excluded from court in the future. He said the complainant's anonymity in sexual offences cases has "disappeared" because that person's name was often "bandied about on social media".
Almost all trials in Northern Ireland are currently open to the public.
"Anonymity of the complainant is now a figment of our imagination," he told BBC Radio 4's Law in Action programme.
He added: "The concept of open justice is fundamental to our legal system.
"But in small local jurisdictions, we do have to look at that possibility of excluding the public from these trials, at least to make some efforts to control social media."
Sit John also suggested it could be recommended that jurors who misuse social media during trials are dealt with appropriately.
"The hammer of the law should come down on those who indulge in misconduct," he said.
Sir John said despite only being six weeks into the inquiry, he was "certain about" three things.
"The first is this: the pathway from complaint to trial is too long," he said.
"Secondly the trial process itself is unacceptably daunting. Thirdly we as a society, and that includes judges and legal professionals, and juries, need to reassess our whole approach to the trauma of serious sexual offences.
"The advent of social media is a vital factor in all three of those aspects."
Legal expert Joshua Rozenberg, the presenter of Law in Action, said he was surprised about the retired judge's comments, so early into his review.
"These are quite radical suggestions that his is considering.... he is really floating these ideas for the public to comment on," he said.
