UK Supreme Court Launches Video Catch-Up Service

The UK Supreme Court, the highest court in the country, has launched an on-demand video archive of hearing footage on its websites.

The videos are uploaded onto the site the next working day and are available to view for a year which the Court claims will allow people to see the background to decisions made.

The Justices’ summary in court will also be published alongside the full judgement text and press summary.

Supreme Court president Lord Neuberger has claimed this allows citizens to see justice at a time that suits them.

Footage will include proceedings of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC), which hears appeals from a number of Commonwealth countries, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.

Although the videos will be available for anyone to view, users will not be able to download them for long term storage or editing for copyright reasons.

“The archive will help people see the background to decision made in our highest appeal court. It will also be useful to the legal profession and serve as an informative tool for those considering a career in the law,” Lord Neuberger said.

Cutting Costs And Complementing Existing Services

Besides offering value to lawyers, law students and anyone else interested in the workings of the highest court in the country, the new service is also set to cut legal costs in the production of transcripts.

It is being funded by the Supreme Court until March 2016, at which point it will be reviewed against user feedback and the Court’s other spending priorities.

The on-demand catch-up aims to complement the Court’s streaming service which launched in 2014.

Since then, 15,000 people have used this service to listen hearing broadcast live from any of its three courtrooms, including JCPC sittings.

© 24N.biz