Ban on filming in court overturned

updated on 13 September 2011

In a bid to help demystify the justice system for the general public, Justice Secretary Ken Clarke has announced that the current ban on filming and broadcasting in court will be overturned. The new legislation will allow the summary remarks of judges sitting in the Court of Appeal to be filmed and broadcast (although victims, witnesses, offenders and jurors will not be filmed), with possible expansion to the Crown Court after consultation with the judiciary.

In a statement reported in Legal Week, Clarke said: "The government and judiciary are determined to improve transparency and public understanding of court through allowing court broadcasting. We believe television has a role in increasing public confidence in the justice system."

As part of its effort to improve public understanding of the court process, the government will also publish court statistics, including the time taken to process cases and anonymised data on individual cases, as well as information about how often convicted criminals have reoffended after being released.