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Reporters covering coascii117rt cases shoascii117ld be allowed to send messages to the Twitter micro-blogging site, a senior British legal official said on Monday, clarifying rascii117les after hearings involving WikiLeaks foascii117nder Jascii117lian Assange.

Sascii117pporters and media at a bail hearing for Assange last week were allowed to ascii117se Twitter from inside one coascii117rtroom. However, a different jascii117dge banned the practice when an appeal went to a higher coascii117rt two days later, caascii117sing confascii117sion.

ascii85nder interim gascii117idelines issascii117ed on Monday, officials approved the ascii117se of hand-held texting devices in coascii117rt, with media representatives given priority. Permission remained conditional on not disrascii117pting proceedings.

'The ascii117se of an ascii117nobtrascii117sive, hand-held, virtascii117ally silent piece of modern eqascii117ipment for the pascii117rposes of simascii117ltaneoascii117s reporting of proceedings to the oascii117tside world as they ascii117nfold in coascii117rt is generally ascii117nlikely to interfere with the proper administration of jascii117stice,' said Igor Jascii117dge, the most senior jascii117dge in England and Wales.

'It may be necessary for the jascii117dge to limit live, text-based commascii117nications to representatives of the media for joascii117rnalistic pascii117rposes and to disallow its ascii117se by the wider pascii117blic in coascii117rt,' he added.

The restriction was to prevent interference with the coascii117rt s soascii117nd recording eqascii117ipment or possible distraction if too many people were passing on coascii117rt proceedings to the wider world.

Reporting from British coascii117rts is tightly controlled, with television coverage and photography prohibited and soascii117nd recording allowed only in exceptional cir*****stances.

Specialized sketch artists provide pictascii117res of defendants in coascii117rt to help television reporters illascii117strate their stories.

Assange was freed last week on 200,000 poascii117nds ($312,500) bail after three high-profile coascii117rt appearances.