Appendix 1: Draft Crown Court (Recording and Broadcasting) Order 2020
Further information from the Ministry of Justice
Q1: Is the intention to always present the film as a recording - or could it be done live and in real time (the concern being that if someone nudged the camera, or someone shouted out, more than is permitted by article 5 could be transmitted, albeit accidentally.)?
A1: It is the intention to present the film as a recording the majority of the time. Live broadcast would be extremely rare: possibly in very high-profile cases. There will only be one cameraman assigned to live broadcasts and he is very experienced and currently deals with Court of Appeal broadcasts. There will be a 10 second delay to enable a broadcast to be stopped if some such incident happened.
Q2: Who does the filming? Is it the court itself or can any TV company that has the requisite permission do so? Is there some sort of pooling agreement for companies to share the film from a particularly interesting case?
A2: The three broadcasters that currently film in the Court of Appeal will be subject to the contract, ie Sky, ITN and BBC. They do indeed pool resources. They finance one cameraman currently in the Court of Appeal but would pool resources to pay for several cameramen to cover the Crown Courts sites.
Q3: What about transmitting edited versions or extracts of the remarks – is there any concern that the outcome could be misrepresented by the way it is cut?
A3: In addition to the general conditions contained at s 10 of the Order, we will ensure that the full footage of sentencing remarks is available to the public on a specific internet site alongside extracts in any news report. This will be in a format which makes it very difficult to tamper with or manipulate the images and sound.
Q4: Is there any appeal process for the film company if the Judge decides s/he does not want the sentencing to be filmed?
A4: No – section 32(4) of the 2013 Act bars such an appeal; and it will also be made clear in the contract that a judge’s decision cannot be appealed.
Q5: This Order only allows the recording of sentencing remarks – is there a longer-term intention to move towards recording judgements/convictions at the end of trials?
A5: We have limited broadcasting to sentencing remarks only because of concerns about the impact on victims, witnesses and defendants and the integrity and dignity of the court process. We, therefore, have no longer term plans at this stage to extend beyond that.”
20 January 2020