Brit magistrates' courts turn to video conferencing to keep wheels of justice turning

Britain's courts are moving to their own video-conferencing platform – for criminal trials rather than business meetings. The Kinly Cloud Video Platform (CVP) will be used to hear magistrate-level criminal cases, allowing defendants to dial in from the physical safety of their own homes instead of travelling to court buildings …

[macjules]

The elephant in the crown court

must be how to conduct jury selection with 40 members of the public while a jury is assembled, get the defendants into a court (in some cases there could be as many as 20 defendants plus barristers plus solicitors) plus ensure the mentioned right of the press/public to attend every day.

To do this and to ensure that everyone maintains a 2 metre safe distance is going to be a mammoth (excuse the pun) task. One aspect might be to guarantee a defendant a maximum 12 month sentence, thus ensuring that the case could be handled by a judge on his/her own. This could still involve legislation since the right to a jury trial is enshrined in UK law.

Perhaps the use of specially created courts with very large courtroom areas, where all required members can sit in protected transparent booths.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: The elephant in the crown court

The powers that be would love to remove jury trials and this would be the perfect excuse.

[Jimmy2Cows]

Re: The elephant in the crown court

My tinfoil might be slipping a bit, but... citations...? It's a bold claim, after all.

[Chris G]

Re: The elephant in the crown court

I'm sure the courts could come to some arrangement with Sainsburys or other large carpark owners, seeing as the number of customers at any one time is somewhat limited at the moment.

Just need some building site security fencing and presto! Instant court.

[hoola]

Re: The elephant in the crown court

Could we just use a football stadium?

Plenty of space, big screens so that everyone can see what is happening at the far end and a PA system.

Maybe that is a bit simplistic.......

[LucreLout]

Re: The elephant in the crown court

must be how to conduct jury selection with 40 members of the public while a jury is assembled

Reform this and simply do it by random allocation.

get the defendants into a court

Video link.

in some cases there could be as many as 20 defendants plus barristers plus solicitors

Video link.

ensure the mentioned right of the press/public to attend every day

Video link, again.

One aspect might be to guarantee a defendant a maximum 12 month sentence

I suspect there's rather a lot of the public sick to death of overly lenient sentences being applied already.

This could still involve legislation since the right to a jury trial is enshrined in UK law

Juries could attend over stable video conferencing.

Perhaps the use of specially created courts with very large courtroom areas, where all required members can sit in protected transparent booths

Being in the same room listening to two scrotes argue in front of a duffer adds little that can't be delivered digitally.

The legal system has resisted digitization for far too long already and its time to simply impose this upon them. It'll reduce costs and simplify proceedings, while making them more transparent to the public.

[Lunatic Looking For Asylum]

Re: The elephant in the crown court

A field, a tree and some rope.

[Anonymous Coward]

Trial by Television?

Eh?

[GrahamRJ]

Misreading

Somehow I read that as the "Kinky Cloud Video Platform". I was wondering about how the judges' sexual preferences were relevant, the presence of bars, cells, chains and handcuffs notwithstanding.

[Jimmy2Cows]

Re: Misreading

You're not the only one.

[IGotOut]

Re: Misreading

came to post the same thing.

KinkyCloudVideo.com is free if anyone is wondering.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Misreading

Ahh -always after recommendations from satisfied punters

[ThatOne]

Re: Misreading

> came to post the same thing.

Same here...

One is chance, two is coincidence, three is enemy action (or some such).

[Martin Summers]

I've got a better idea. Can people just bloody stop committing crimes for a bit pretty please? Cheers.

[BebopWeBop]

Combined with persuading the police not to bring vexations (in the popular sense if not legal) at the same time might do wonders.

[Chris G]

I suppose crime like burglary might be down at the moment.

With empty streets, a bloke in a stripy jumper with a jemmy in one hand and a swag bag in the other will attract more attention than normal.

[ChrisElvidge]

Could be onions in the 'swag bag' and the jemmy is just to help him fix his bike.

[Roland6]

It could be something to do with people having to remain at home = shortage of empty homes to peruse...

[John Brown (no body)]

And, from another perspective, far fewer people to mug, pickpocket, steal phones from racing past on a moped etc etc.