Select Committee on Constitutional Affairs Minutes of Evidence


Examination of Witnesses (Questions 360-362)

RT HON LORD FALCONER OF THOROTON QC, ALEX ALLAN AND JUDITH SIMPSON

16 NOVEMBER 2004

  Q360 James Clappison: Well, you will accept there is a difference between accepting in the first place the wisdom of them and then trying to make the best of what is being presented to us.

  Lord Falconer of Thoroton: Of course I accept that there is.

  Q361 Chairman: I think the point is made and I am not sure we are here to debate quite how the Conservative Party got to its position. Can I just invite you to tell us what you are hoping to achieve by the pilot of tele-recording proceedings in the Royal Courts of Justice.

  Lord Falconer of Thoroton: The pilot is only in the Court of Appeal and it is not to be broadcast. It is for the judges, the lawyers involved and the broadcasters to see how it would look, so the way it would work is that you would do, as it were, a mock news broadcast without what went on in the Court of Appeal being available and then do it with Court of Appeal material and you would then be able to see what it looked like and make judgments about whether or not that should be broadcast. If, informed by that and by the rest of the consultation process, people thought and there was a widespread view that they should be broadcast, then we would proceed to change the law, as appropriate, to allow filming and broadcasting of certain limited parts of the court process.

  Q362 Chairman: And do you have a view about whether this should be done in the end or are you waiting for the outcome of the pilot to make up your own mind?

  Lord Falconer of Thoroton: I am waiting for the pilot to inform us and I wait to hear what other people say, so I am going to be guided by the consultation, but I think if the consultation shows that there are problems in the Court of Appeal end, which is the no witnesses bit, my inclination would be that we should do it. I think the more that people can see of what goes on in the courts, but without prejudicing the interests of victims and witnesses, the better.

  Chairman: Thank you, all three, and we look forward to seeing you again before very long.





 
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