Courts and Tribunals Observers’ Network

Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill has responded to our recent open letter pointing out a worrying series of errors in published guidance from HM Courts & Tribunal Service on public access to court hearings and information.

The Lady Chief Justice acknowledged that the HMCTS advice wrongly suggested that laptops could not be used in court and noted that the service had taken steps to make the necessary correction.

She reiterated her commitment to transparency and open justice in courts and tribunals.

Aside from specific mistakes like this, the new guide falls short of delivering on the govt’s promise to publish a charter of public access rights that empowers members of the public to exercise these rights effectively, as we pointed out in our open letter.

Given these deficiencies in the guide, it’s welcome to have the Lady Chief Justice’s reassurance that

“It is not a substitute for judicial decision-making, nor for the many rules that govern the facilitation of open justice, by which court and tribunal officials are also bound”.

Time and again, the courts have emphasised that public access to court hearings, information and documents is essential for promoting the principle of open justice, yet our experience suggests this lofty principle is not a practical reality in our courts.

As members of the Courts & Tribunals Observers’ Network, we’ll continue to call for more inclusive stakeholder engagement on open justice issues with representation from different professional & civil society groups.

You can read the LCJ’s letter in full by clicking the following link:
Lady Chief Justice letter to the Courts and Tribunals Observers Network