Recommendations & Conclusions
6 items
16
Conclusion
Fifth Report - Open justice: court repo…
Acknowledged
HMCTS should ensure that the Crown Court provides the same level of information to journalists on the outcome of cases as is currently provided by the Magistrates’ court.
Government response AI summary
The government acknowledges that Crown Court information is currently provided reactively compared to magistrates' courts but will only keep this under review and consider future alignment of practice.
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Ministry of Justice
28
Conclusion
Fifth Report - Open justice: court repo…
Acknowledged
All Crown Court sentencing remarks should be published in audio and/or written form. HMCTS should ensure that the necessary resources are made available to enable sentencing remarks to be published.
Government response AI summary
The government stated it is exploring the option of incorporating Crown Court sentencing remarks into the FCL service as part of its expansion and is monitoring the service's use to inform future decisions.
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Ministry of Justice
33
Conclusion
Fifth Report - Open justice: court repo…
Acknowledged
The power to allow the transmission of proceedings to designated livestreaming premises has great potential to enable more people to observe court proceedings and enhance open justice. If students were able to observe cases in classrooms and lecture halls, or if community centres could host livestreams of court proceedings, the …
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The power to allow the transmission of proceedings to designated livestreaming premises has great potential to enable more people to observe court proceedings and enhance open justice. If students were able to observe cases in classrooms and lecture halls, or if community centres could host livestreams of court proceedings, the accessibility of court proceedings would be greatly enhanced.
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees the power exists through remote observation legislation but has not yet been used; they will explore the appetite for its use in a forthcoming call for evidence.
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Ministry of Justice
35
Recommendation
Fifth Report - Open justice: court repo…
Acknowledged
More widely, we recommend that HMCTS and the Judiciary commission research to determine which civil and criminal proceedings could be suitable for broadcast and video archiving. In principle, we would support the extension of broadcasting and recording to civil trials that do not involve oral evidence. In the criminal context, …
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More widely, we recommend that HMCTS and the Judiciary commission research to determine which civil and criminal proceedings could be suitable for broadcast and video archiving. In principle, we would support the extension of broadcasting and recording to civil trials that do not involve oral evidence. In the criminal context, the broadcast and recording of sentencing in Magistrates’ courts could also be beneficial. However, we do not support the broadcasting of any elements of criminal trials other than the sentencing remarks of the judge. (Paragraph 119) Open justice: court reporting in the digital age 55
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Government response AI summary
The government will monitor the impact of Crown Court broadcasting changes introduced in 2022 before making further interventions and *may* use a call for evidence to gather views on expanding the current regime.
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Ministry of Justice
41
Recommendation
Fifth Report - Open justice: court repo…
Acknowledged
We agree with the President of the Family Division that there should be a review of section 12 of the Administration of Justice Act 1960. In our view section 12 of the Act should be reviewed and reformed so that it can replaced with a much more targeted measure that …
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We agree with the President of the Family Division that there should be a review of section 12 of the Administration of Justice Act 1960. In our view section 12 of the Act should be reviewed and reformed so that it can replaced with a much more targeted measure that respects the principle of open justice. The Government should ask the Law Commission to produce a proposal for the reform of section 12 of the Administration of Justice Act 1960 that provides a better balance between transparency and confidentiality.
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Government response AI summary
The government is working with the President of the Family Division as part of the Transparency Implementation Group and remains committed to increasing transparency, but does not commit to asking the Law Commission to review Section 12 of the Administration of Justice Act 1960.
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Ministry of Justice
42
Conclusion
Fifth Report - Open justice: court repo…
Acknowledged
In broad terms, we support the Transparency Review’s principal recommendation that media representative and bloggers should be able to report, subject to the relevant restrictions, on the cases they observe in the Family Court. We would caution, however, that given the decline in the number of court reporters in recent …
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In broad terms, we support the Transparency Review’s principal recommendation that media representative and bloggers should be able to report, subject to the relevant restrictions, on the cases they observe in the Family Court. We would caution, however, that given the decline in the number of court reporters in recent years, it is unclear whether media outlets will necessarily dedicate greater resources to reporting on the family courts as a result of these changes. We look forward to seeing the results of the pilots.
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Government response AI summary
The government states that decisions on media and blogger reporting in family courts are ultimately for the judiciary, but they are working alongside the President of the Family Division to establish media reporting pilots.
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Ministry of Justice