National Magistrates’ Court Working Group & The Cloud Video Platform
The CBA urgently needs your help.
We would like to provide the National Magistrates’ Court Working Group, chaired by Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot, with a realistic assessment of how digital hearings and digital trials are currently working in the Magistrates’ Court. Therefore, if you have participated in a digital hearing and/or trial over the past 2 months, please could you set out for us your experience by addressing the following questions (and anything further you think relevant):
- Name and chambers (this will be anonymised if sent to the working group)
- Pupil / tenant (year of call)
- Magistrates’ Court
- Date of hearing/ trial
- What platforms were used during your hearing / trial e.g. CVP, Skype, ClickShare etc
- Was a reason given by the Court for using a particular platform?
- Were there any connection problems with the technology during the hearing/trial?
- If there were connection issues how were they resolved?
- Was there sufficient infrastructure in place within the court room to support the digital hearing e.g. screens available for each participant, sound of good volume etc..
- Did you feel as though each participant (counsel, judge, defendant, witnesses, public etc) was able to effectively engage with the hearing?
- Do you believe that the use of technology in your hearing/trial was a good thing or a bad thing? Please explain your reasons why.
Please send your examples to CBA Secretary Gerwyn Wise by 4pm on Friday 5th June 2020.
Furthermore, details of the roll-out of the Cloud Video Platform (CVP) in Crown Courts can be accessed here
A useful contact lists for Prisons and the CVP can be accessed here
A Table of Magistrates’ Courts and roll-out is as follows, however these may be subject to change:
| Magistrates’ courts where CVP is now available | Magistrates’ courts scheduled to get CVP in June 2020 |
| Basingstoke Mags Bodmin Magistrates Bromley MC Cambridge Cardiff Chelmsford MC Cheltenham Mag. Croydon MC Derby Magistrates Exeter Combined Barkingside Highbury Huntingdon IOW Magistrates Kidderminster Leeds MC Leicester Lincoln Luton MC Manchester Mags Mold North Staffordshire Justice Centre Northampton Nottingham Magistrates Oxford MC Peterborough MC Poole Magistrates Ports.Combined Reading MC Southampton Mags Swansea Taunton Magistrates Thames Uxbridge MC Westminster Willesden MC Wimbledon MC Newport Milton Keynes |
Bristol Magistrates Warrington Teesside Mags Carlisle Mags Wigan Teesside Mags Stockport Mags Manchester Mags Hull Mags Grimsby Mags Blackpool Preston Liverpool North Tyneside Mags South Tyneside Mags Sheffield Doncaster Mags Coventry MC Birmingham MC Wolverhampton MC |