TV cameras are set to be permitted into some courts in England and Wales under a proposal confirmed in yesterday's (9 May) Queen's Speech, which outlined a legislative programme that will also include the introduction of a Defamation Bill.

Plans to allow filming of some court cases, which forms part of the proposed Courts and Crime Bill, have been put forward in a bid to improve public understanding of the UK justice system.

The move, which comes after the BBC, ITN and Sky News called on Prime Minister David Cameron to push through the legislation earlier this year, will allow news channels to broadcast some court hearings live.

It is expected to be confined to very limited circumstances including Court of Appeal hearings, with broadcasting images of defendants or witnesses likely to be prohibited.

Clifford Chance commercial litigation head Simon Davis said: "Increased transparency is always attractive in principle, but the cases likely to be "compulsive viewing" are those where the cameras are best kept away, in the interests of witness safety, innocent reputations and families."

Other proposals in the Crime and Courts Bill will look at reforming the courts and tribunals services to "increase efficiency, transparency and judicial diversity". Meanwhile a separate Justice and Security Bill will allow courts to review sensitive information in cases affecting national security in closed hearings.

Yesterday's Speech also paved the way for the introduction of new defamation laws intended to strike a fair balance between the protection of reputation and freedom of speech. A draft defamation bill outlined by the Government last year included a proposed move away from jury trials in defamation cases, with non-jury trials presumed unless the court has ordered otherwise, and a new 'single publication' rule which would only allow a defamation claim to be brought against the first publication of a statement.

Commenting on the Defamation Bill The Law Society said in a statement: "If the Government's response to the Joint Committee report provides an accurate indication of the new Bill's content, then we expect the vast majority of its provisions to lead to a clearer, more proportionate defamation law regime, and we look forward to examining them in detail.

"We do however hold deep reservations about the proposals to introduce a requirement that statements cause "serious harm" to be actionable. We agree that a mechanism is needed to discourage trivial claims, but this proposal is likely to inhibit many people trying to validly protect their reputation from doing so."

The Queen's Speech also anticipated a number of changes to employment law contained within a proposed Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill including reforming the employment tribunal system and increasing shareholder control over executive pay.

Other legislative plans deal with pensions, reform of the banking system, energy, reform of the House of Lords to ensure the majority of members are elected, electronic communication and law around children and families.

The Children and Families Bill also contained some employment law aspects with a potential new system of shared parental leave that would allow women to transfer over some of their maternity leave to their spouse if they want to return to work early.