On the livestreaming of court proceedings

People are likely to gain confidence in the justice system when they see justice getting served. This is why courtrooms are deemed open or accessible, theoretically at least, to all. By the same logic, in an age of technologies, in order to foster public confidence, should livestreaming of court proceedings be encouraged?  Comparative discussions may prove to be useful in finding the answer.

In the UK, the Crown Court (Recording and Broadcasting) Order 2020 allows only sentencing remarks to be broadcasted under strict conditions. Since 2019, the Court of Appeal (Civil) started livestreaming selective cases via YouTube. In the USA, the audio record of all the cases before the Supreme Court has been archived since 1955. In 2020, 13 federal courts started audio livestreaming.

Pakistan Supreme Court also started livestreaming hearings in 2023 with petitions challenging the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act 2023. In India, the livestreamings of cases of constitutional importance began through a writ petition named Swapnil Tripathi and Ors. v Supreme Court of India and Ors (2018). In this judgement, citing livestreaming as the extension of the principle of an open court, the court gave comprehensive guidelines and also suggested that oath ceremonies, farewells, and other speeches of the judges may also be livestreamed.

During the Covid pandemic, our judiciary embraced the digitalisation of the judicial processes. In the days of lockdown, to ensure access to justice, the then President promulgated Adalat Kartrik Tottho-Projukti Bebohar Ordinance 2020 which was later adopted by the parliament when it came into session. The Act empowered the court to conduct trials, to hold inquiries, to take evidence and hear arguments, and to give orders or pronounce judgments in the virtual presence of the pleaders, litigants, accused, and other concerned persons. Holding virtual court was much more complex compared to livestreaming considering that livestreaming only involves airing the offline court proceeding on the internet while virtual court requires that all concerned stakeholders of the proceeding participate remotely.

Livestreaming court proceedings may potentially bring about transformative changes within our legal framework. In particular, it may help re-establish public confidence in our judicial system. The young law students and novice lawyers can enrich themselves by witnessing the judicial proceedings firsthand as well.

Rafid Hasan Safwan

Student of law

University of Dhaka.