Video Conferencing in courts

Video Conferencing (VC) enables any person who has an interest in court proceedings to be involved in a hearing from a remote location. In its simplest form, a witness at a remote location may give his/her evidence via a video link to the court with one screen and one camera in the courtroom.

The technology needed to establish a video link is relatively simple. A screen and a camera with a microphone is required at each location. Any form of screen can be used. An ISDN telephone line supplied by BT is used to transmit the pictures and sound electronically between the locations. Connection is made by dialling the telephone number allocated to the relevant location.

The Access to Justice Act, 1999 allows VC to be used for civil hearings, e.g. case management conferences, ancillary relief hearings, overseas or remote witnesses or in any civil cases in which the court directs the use of video and the parties involved consent to its use.

The courts listed below have VC equipment and it is possible for every location to connect to any other location on the list. For example, VC equipment in Birmingham can be used to give evidence in a matter being heard in Plymouth. It is also possible for multiple locations to be connected e.g. Bournemouth, Leeds and Manchester can be used to take evidence for a matter being heard at The Royal Courts of Justice in London. The network is extremely flexible.

Video Conferencing now available in Care Centres

To address the problem of delays in child care and supervision cases Video Conference (VC) technology in Care Centres (Care Centres have jurisdiction to hear Public Law Children Act Cases) is now available. The availability of expert witnesses has been identified as one major cause of delay and the VC equipment will provide the courts with greater flexibility for when and how expert witnesses (particularly medical) are required to give evidence.

All 53 Care Centres across England and Wales have now been equipped with mobile VC units and DCA is in the process of developing a national directory of suitable sites at hospitals, medical institutions and universities that could be used by expert witnesses. This means HMCS will now be able to arrange hearing dates and conclude cases more quickly and ensure that the costs to the parties and the public purse will be reduced. It will also mean that experts will have to spend less time travelling to and from court and less time waiting for their case to be heard.

Those wishing to make use of the VC equipment should make their request to the court before the Case Management Conference (CMC) or as soon as practicable before the full hearing. At the CMC itself any necessary practical issues can then be agreed, such as remote location, who will administer the oath and any other special arrangements required to ensure that witnesses are able to give their evidence freely.