Measures in Place to Protect Digital Court Recordings

As the Judiciary of Jamaica prepares to introduce digital audio court recordings,

Chief Justice, Bryan Sykes, says safeguards are in place to ensure the secure storage and integrity of the recorded material.

The process, which will roll out in the Supreme Court at the start of the Easter term on April 1, is part of the ongoing modernisation of the judiciary to improve efficiency and the timely delivery of judgements.

Speaking at a recent JIS Think Tank, Chief Justice, Bryan Sykes, said appropriate protections against things such as hacking attempts are being established, including on- and off-site storage of the recordings to prevent loss of data.

“You have what is on-site there and then you have a backup somewhere else that you can access in the event that it becomes necessary. There is no such thing as an un-hackable system; what you have to do is to put sufficient barriers in place so that if the person is trying to hack your system, then you get the alerts and you can take the necessary precautions to prevent them actually getting in. We have to keep in mind that every system has vulnerabilities, but it doesn’t mean that you do not move forward,” he said.

Acknowledging the potential for technology failures, the Chief Justice noted the importance of ensuring that the equipment is properly maintained and monitored.

“You will have, in court, persons who will be monitoring, listening and ensuring that it is actually recording. We have to keep in mind that technology can and will fail from time to time. The expectation is that if the instrument stops recording, the clerk who is attending to it will detect this and bring it to the attention of the judge,” he pointed out.

Jamaica’s susceptibility to extreme weather, such as hurricanes and other natural disasters, has also been taken into consideration with the introduction of digital recordings.

“We are in a hurricane zone, so in the event that you have a hurricane and electricity is down then you will have to revert to pen and ink. We are also in an earthquake zone, so you have natural disasters and sometimes you can have manmade disasters such as fires. So, while we are moving into the digital space, we have to recognise that there may be instances where the pen and ink will have to be resorted to, to continue the proceedings,” the Chief Justice pointed out.