Legal practitioner and historian Yaw Anokye Frimpong has called on journalists covering court proceedings to seek clarification from lawyers, emphasising this would help reduce the inaccuracies in legal reporting.

Speaking in a telephone interview on CTV's Morning Show “Oman Ghana Nkosuo” with host Yaa Titi, Lawyer Anokye Frimpong said the technical nature of legal language makes it difficult for reporters to accurately interpret courtroom proceedings without expert explanation.

According to him, journalists are usually seated at a distance from where judges and lawyers conduct proceedings, making it easy to misunderstand legal arguments or miss important details.

“Judges and lawyers are close to each other when they are speaking in court, but journalists are always far from them. They cannot hear or understand everything that is said,” he noted.

He advised court reporters to interview lawyers after proceedings to confirm the meaning of legal terms and the outcome of cases before publishing their stories.

Lawyer Anokye Frimpong also criticised what he described as the misuse of legal terminology in some media reports, citing the frequent use of the phrase "armed robber."

According to him, in legal practice, the word "robber" already implies the use or threat of force, making the addition of "armed" unnecessary in certain legal contexts.

"A lawyer cannot say 'armed robber' because a robber is already someone who commits robbery. Yet almost every day we read newspapers using the term 'armed robber'. This shows a lack of understanding of legal language," he said.

He stressed that court reporting requires specialised knowledge and urged journalists to consult legal practitioners whenever they are uncertain about legal expressions or court rulings.

The legal practitioner maintained that stronger collaboration between lawyers and court reporters would improve the accuracy of legal journalism and help prevent the spread of misinformation from courtroom proceedings.