Inaudible in-person proceedings: A practical barrier to transparency and open justice

By Tim Sugden, 21st February 2024 It’s not open justice if you can’t hear what is being said in the courtroom.   My experience is that this is a recurrent problem in magistrates’ courts – and now I’ve found the same problem in the Court of Protection as well. My experiences in magistrates’ courts with CourtwatchContinue reading “Inaudible in-person proceedings: A practical barrier to transparency and open justice”

Judge concerned about “restraint regime” for learning-disabled man prohibits naming public body

By Celia Kitzinger, 29th October 2023 This is yet another case where a judge has signed off on reporting restrictions that prevent the naming of a public body, for reasons that are wholly unclear to me.  Neither counsel nor the judge has – to my knowledge – suggested that identification of the local authority involvedContinue reading “Judge concerned about “restraint regime” for learning-disabled man prohibits naming public body”

Observing a remote hearing in court with the judge

This turned out to be a salutary opportunity for me to experience a “judge’s eye view” of a remote hearing.  I can now better appreciate the somewhat isolating and disjointed experience it creates for the decision-maker sitting in the nearly empty courtroom.