Minstry of Justice: Broadcasting in court to be allowed for first time and increased transparency of local court performance
Tuesday, 6 September 2011, 15:21
"[Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke] announced that an unprecedented level of information about the performance of courts will be published in future to allow everyone to see how their local courts are working. … In addition to allowing broadcast…
Press Gazette: Sky News Supreme Court feed ‘attracts 90,000 a day’
Monday, 5 September 2011, 15:15
"Sky News’ live video stream from the Supreme Court attracts an average 90,000 visitors a day, according to the channel’s head of news John Ryley. The figure was cited in an open letter sent by Ryley to Justice Secretary Ken Clarke in which he…
Cause List
Thursday, 23 June 2011, 11:54
"Track what's going on in the courts of England & Wales, right now."
Sky News Editors’ Blog: Supreme Court Live
Tuesday, 17 May 2011, 14:29
"Sky News has today become the first place where you can watch continuous live video coverage of the UK Supreme Court. This is a significant event because the Supreme Court is the only UK court which allows cameras at all, apart from some very res…
Sky News Editors’ Blog: Supreme Court Live
Tuesday, 17 May 2011, 14:29
"Sky News has today become the first place where you can watch continuous live video coverage of the UK Supreme Court. This is a significant event because the Supreme Court is the only UK court which allows cameras at all, apart from some very res…
BBC News: Court results put on Twitter by West Midlands Police
Tuesday, 19 April 2011, 13:52
"Results from cases heard at Birmingham Magistrates' Court are being put on Twitter by West Midlands Police. … Ch Supt Stephen Anderson said there had been a decline in court reporting in recent years and the initiative was designed to make…
Press Gazette: Supreme Court allows reporters to use Twitter
Friday, 4 February 2011, 13:33
"[UK] Supreme Court justices are "content" for journalists, members of the public and legal teams to use "live text based communications" to let the outside world know what is happening in the courtroom."
guardian.co.uk: Can live-blogs and Twitter take court reporting into the 21st century?
Wednesday, 28 July 2010, 16:19
Siobhain Butterworth: "There is something rather quaint about journalists in the 21st century using pens and notebooks to record what goes on in court hearings when the tools of the trade now include laptops, mobiles, BlackBerrys and other digital paraphernalia. Why not use them in court? In fact, why not report live from the courtroom? The obvious answer is that judges won't let you."
HMG Your Freedom: Abolish the ban on recording court proceedings
Wednesday, 28 July 2010, 15:09
Alistair Kelman: "Currently under Section 9 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 it is illegal to tape record court proceedings. This topic was addressed by Ms Heather Brooke in a feature article in today's Times newspaper where she makes out the case very eloquently. As a barrister and expert witness I too have encountered similar problems in the UK courts and believe that no is the time for this Government to abolish the ban."
London Review of Books: Diary
Wednesday, 28 July 2010, 14:59
From a 2008 LRB article by Leah Price: "Journalism degrees in Britain still include a speedwriting test; the persistence of a requirement dropped in many other countries can be explained either by the peculiarities of British libel law (shorthand notes are admissible in journalists’ defence) or by the prohibition on the use of sound recording in court. But the distinction that emerged a century ago between mechanical devices (forbidden) and human scribes (permitted) is beginning to blur."
Heather Brooke: Court secrecy
Wednesday, 28 July 2010, 11:59
"The rhetoric of the English legal system is that justice must be seen to be done so why are the public forbidden – under threat of jail – from recording a verbatim account of proceedings? Not only that, rules are so opaque and obscure that court reporters struggle to report cases with any degree of accuracy or depth. And that is when there is a reporter in court, which these days is a rarity – there used to be 25 reporters covering national courts for the Press Association; by 2009 there were only four. … The simple answer is to allow tape recorders for all: no party is disadvantaged and an ‘official’ recording is there for checking."
Jon Slattery: NUJ backs blogger banned from coroner’s court
Thursday, 25 February 2010, 22:49
"The NUJ has condemned a coroner’s decision to deny a blogging journalist access to the Isle of Wight coroner’s court."
Ventnor Blog: VentnorBlog Denied Access to Coroner’s Court
Thursday, 25 February 2010, 09:00
"VentnorBlog was this morning ejected from the Coroner’s court in Newport, Isle of Wight. … "
Journalism.co.uk: Local news blogger refused entry to coroner’s court
Thursday, 25 February 2010, 08:54
"VentnorBlog, the well-established Isle of Wight news blog, found itself thrown out of a coroner’s court on Tuesday. … Coroner officer Richard Leedham told Simon Perry of the VentnorBlog … that the coroner did not wish him to be in the court – as a journalist or as a member of the public. The Isle of Wight County Press was allowed to stay, however."
