The ban on televised court sentencing is to be overturned in an effort to improve public understanding of the justice system, Justice Secretary Ken Clarke announced today (6 September).

Clarke said in a statement that the move to allow TV broadcasting of judges' comments was part of an attempt to demystify the legal process for the general public.

Filming and broadcasting in court is currently banned under two acts of parliament, and new legislation will be required to be passed to effect the changes.

The proposals will allow limited recording and transmission from courts, with broadcasting initially allowed from the Court of Appeal. The Government will consider expanding this to the Crown Court in after a consultation with the judiciary.

Filming will be of judges' summary remarks only, while victims, witnesses, offenders and jurors will not be filmed.

In addition to the move to allow televised court proceedings, the Government will for the first time publish new court-by-court statistics including the time taken for cases to be processed, details of the effectiveness of cases, as well as some anonymised data on individual cases.

The public will also have access to information about convicted criminals and how often they have reoffended after being released. From next May, the public will be able to track individual crimes in their area online.

In a statement, Clarke said: "The Government and judiciary are determined to improve transparency and public understanding of court through allowing court broadcasting. We believe television has a role in increasing public confidence in the justice system."