'Open Justice Ought To Be Seen': Barristers Hail Crown Court Broadcasting
"It's right that we are cautious about any significant changes to the trial process, but this could have been done earlier," said one.
January 16, 2020 at 06:15 AM
4 minute read
Government proposals to allow television broadcasting from Crown Courts in England and Wales is a key step in supporting transparency in the justice system, according to top barristers.
Under the new legislation, sentencing remarks of High Court and Senior Circuit judges would be available for the public to watch online for the first time, a move welcomed by the likes of Adrian Waterman QC at Matrix Chambers. "I think justice is open and if it's open it ought to be seen," he said. "Transparency, save in very rare circumstances, must be a good thing."
Speaking to Law.com's U.K. arm Legal Week, Waterman acknowledged there are some risks but believes that the transparency principle outweighs them: "For example, sentencing remarks are often quite long, and having them filmed might increase the temptation to introduce soundbites in the news," he said. "But that's not qualitatively different to what happens now. Judges always take great care in delivering sentencing remarks."
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