British legal history was made this week with the first televised sentencing in a criminal trial - in Scotland. While cameras are forbidden in most court proceedings in England and Wales under the 1925 Criminal Justice Act and the 1981 Contempt of Court Act, it the Queen's Speech is expected to include proposed legislation for the wider recording and broadcasting of cases, starting with Court of Appeal hearings and extending to Crown Court trials.
While there are obvious concerns about necessary safeguards to protect witnesses and victims, as noted by Victim Support and the Director of Public Prosecutions, both Government and the judiciary are broadly in favour of more transparency and public awareness of proceedings.
As with Supreme Court hearings which have been broadcast since its inception in October 2009, it is unlikely that judges will become TV celebrities or that any prime time spots will be taken by the broadcasts but this still is an interesting development in open access and demystifying the legal process.
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