Digital Court Recordings to Benefit Legal Practitioners

Judges and other members of the legal fraternity are set to benefit from greater accessibility to court records with the introduction of digital court audio recordings in the Supreme Court, set to come on stream in April.

The system will see the Judiciary moving away from written records and using recording technology to capture court proceedings. Courts will also be connected to a database where the digital case files can easily be accessed from any location.

Chief Justice, Hon. Bryan Sykes, told a recent JIS Think Tank that feedback from attorneys has, so far, been positive, as they anticipate the added convenience and greater ease in practising their profession.

“It would make their lives easier and, in addition to that, when you’re in a digital space, it makes it easier for the more mature attorneys or attorneys with physical disabilities, so you can still practise your profession without having to physically come into the court,” he said.

The Chief Justice noted that accessibility is a key part of the Judiciary’s modernisation efforts.

“In this day and age, you shouldn’t have a situation in which persons can’t practise their profession because they can’t physically come to a particular location, or because they may be older they might not be able to cope with the stresses… because many of our courts in Kingston are in high-traffic areas and the courts are old, meaning not much parking space is there. Digitisation and digitalisation will enable those practitioners to participate in the process and still represent their clients effectively without any diminution or minimal diminution of quality,” he said.

Justice Sykes adds that Judges are also receptive to the use of digital technology in court proceedings, particularly those that minimise the tedious writing process.

“They want to stop all this writing because when they’re writing, a number of them have problems with their wrists. They wish to get out of this writing at the earliest possible opportunity, so there’s no resistance from the judges at all. What they want to be assured of is that the system is reliable and will capture the proceedings accurately,” he said.

The training of officers of the court to use the new technology will take place from March to April, with implementation set for the Easter term.