Tuesday 15 April 2014

NO to cameras in British Courts!

By just taking a passing interest in the news of the last few weeks, it would be impossible not to notice a high profile trial which has been taking place in South Africa.  The case involves a high profile athlete accused of murdering his girlfriend, who was a model.

I am not going to offer my view as to whether I believe the defendent to be guilty or otherwise.  What I will state is how difficult these reports are to watch.  I really do feel for the dead girl's parents, whom have had to endure the indignity of being viewed by the cameras, as evidence has been played out.  I also believe that the evidence being played out for public consumption is not helpful towards the ultimate judicial aim of a fair trial.

Prior to this high profile trial getting underway, I was moving towards an acceptance that some kind of limited use of cameras in the British Courtroom would now be inevitable.  One example cited was to show the judge's summing up of the case.  With the coverage I have seen of this high profile South African case, I have now moved the other way.

I don't particularly see the point of a courtroom camera purely showing a judge summing up, when a reporter can adequately highlight the important points of the summing up outside the court building as he or she would do now?  What I definitely don't want is to see such limited televised coverage becoming a stepping stone towards televised trials.  SO NO TO TV CAMERAS IN UK COURTROOMS FOR ME!

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