Lawyers fear spectator sport justice if judges pass sentences on TV

MOVES TO allow TV cameras to broadcast judges’ sentencing remarks from Crown Courts for the first time have come a step closer with draft legislation laid down in Parliament.

The Crown Court (Recording and Broadcasting) Order 2020 would permit High Court and Senior Circuit judges to be filmed as they hand out penalties in criminal cases. It will now be considered by MPs and peers.

Filming has been allowed in certain Court of Appeal cases since 2013, and the Supreme Court, the highest court in the UK, also videos proceedings for visitors to view from its exhibition area.

Moves to allow a judge’s reasons for passing a certain sentence in a criminal case have been under consideration for several years, and the new law would allow them to be broadcast to the public for the first time.

Barristers have warned against making court proceedings “a spectator sport”, and over the risk of judges facing a backlash from members of the public who lack the context of a full criminal trial.

Only the sentencing remarks would be filmed and no other court user, for example victims, witnesses, jurors or staff, would be caught on camera.

Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor Robert Buckland said: “It will ensure our courts remain open and transparent and allow people to see justice being delivered to the most serious of offenders.”

A three-month pilot has already been carried out where sentencing remarks were recorded in eight crown courts on a notfor-broadcast basis.

Broadcasters ITN, Sky and the BBC, who campaigned for the access, have all welcomed the move as a boost for transparency.