Virtual court hearings hailed a success

UK Home Secretary, Jack Straw, has launched a report praising a pilot videoconferencing scheme which could revolutionise the way court hearings are conducted.

The pilot project connects three magistrates courts and four prisons using ISDN lines and videoconferencing equipment. Trials of the system began last November, and since then, 748 preliminary hearings have been conducted via video link without problems.

A Home Office spokesman said: "We have successfully demonstrated that we are able to cut down on costs of transferring high-risk prisoners, and it cuts down on the risk of escapes."

The report claims that 73 per cent of prisoners preferred the video hearing to appearing in court.

However, defence lawyers have voiced concerns that virtual meetings with their clients are not secure enough, and breaches in confidentiality could jeopardise their clients' chances of making bail.

Mary Wilkinson, project manager for video links at HM Prison Service, says the concerns of defence lawyers are being addressed by soundproofing meeting rooms and making sure the links are secure.

Wilkinson would like to see a wider roll-out of the system, initially to 50 local courts around the country. But with 450 magistrate's courts in the UK, she said she is unsure how widespread a roll-out the Prison Service can afford. "Currently, we're considering our business case for this and considering where we might get some funding," she said. "I'm very pleased with the outcome of the project. It just looks as if this is the way we've always done business. It happens on most days of the year without hassle now."