Fifth Report - Open justice: court reporting in the digital age
Select Committee
Justice Committee
HC 339
1 November 2022
Government response
Seventh Special Report - Open justice: court reporting in the digital age: Government Response to the Committee’s Fifth Report of Session 2022–23 · published 16 Jan 2023
Recommendations & Conclusions
6 results
16
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Para 57
Crown Court case outcome information for journalists lags behind Magistrates' Court provision.
Conclusion
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.
Ministry of Justice
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28
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Para 97
Publish all Crown Court sentencing remarks in accessible audio or written form
Conclusion
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.
Ministry of Justice
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33
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Para 111
Livestreaming court proceedings offers significant potential to enhance open justice and public accessibility.
Conclusion
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 …
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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.
Ministry of Justice
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35
Recommendation
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
Recommendation
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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42
Conclusion
Acknowledged
Para 152
Media access to Family Courts supported, but resource allocation and reporting interest remain uncertain.
Conclusion
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 …
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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.
Ministry of Justice
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