What contempt of court means
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Contempt of court refers to conduct that disrespects or interferes with the proper functioning of a court, which can include disobeying a court order, disrupting proceedings, or publishing material that could seriously prejudice a fair trial, even if that is not always obvious, which matters more than it might first appear.
Courts hold the power to address contempt directly, in some cases imposing a fine or other penalty, because the ability to enforce order and protect the integrity of proceedings is considered essential to a court's capacity to deliver fair outcomes, something that becomes clearer with experience, a pattern that recurs in many contexts.
Restrictions related to contempt, such as limits on reporting details of an ongoing trial, exist specifically to protect the fairness of that particular proceeding, reflecting a deliberate balance between open reporting and the right to an unprejudiced trial, as is often the case in practice, though this can vary between jurisdictions.