Source · Select Committees · Justice Committee
Fifth Report - Open justice: court reporting in the digital age
Justice Committee
HC 339
Published 1 November 2022
Recommendations
35
Acknowledged
Commission research to identify suitable civil and criminal proceedings for broadcast and video archiving.
Recommendation
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 …
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Government Response 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.
Ministry of Justice
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41
Acknowledged
Para 145
Ask Law Commission to propose reform of Section 12 for better transparency-confidentiality balance.
Recommendation
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 …
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Government Response 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.
Ministry of Justice
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Conclusions (4)
16
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Para 57
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 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.
28
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Para 97
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 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.
33
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Para 111
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 …
Government Response 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.
42
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Para 152
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 …
Government Response 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.