Rule 53 Photographing; Recording; Broadcast

In courtrooms in the Northern Mariana Islands, you generally cannot take photos, make recordings, or broadcast what happens during court proceedings. This applies to both the Supreme Court and the Superior Court. The rule is meant to protect the courtroom from outside cameras and recording devices brought in by the public, media, or parties involved in a case.

There are two exceptions to this rule. First, official court reporters can make voice recordings, but only to do their job of creating accurate records of what was said. Second, the courts themselves are allowed to photograph, record, broadcast, webcast, or archive proceedings as a public service, following their own internal policies. However, this court-produced footage does not count as the official legal record of the case.

If the court does webcast or broadcast a proceeding, nobody else can republish that footage without getting written permission from the court first. This means even if you watch a proceeding online through the court's own webcast, you cannot legally copy it, share it, or repost it elsewhere without asking the court's permission in writing.