Video proposal to cut cost of court trials

Simon Power says the use of video links would need to be checked gainst the Bill of Rights. Photo / Getty Images

Justice will be administered through video links under a Government proposal that would revolutionise the court system and save millions of dollars a year.

Criminals could be sentenced over a video link with the jail, rather than by being brought to the dock, and judges would preside over cases remotely instead of from the bench.

The "virtual courtrooms" could eventually fulfil the principle of open justice by allowing the public to watch over the internet.

Use of video links is part of a justice reform plan being considered by Justice Minister Simon Power in an attempt to speed the flow of cases through the clogged court system.

Under the proposal, video facilities would be installed in prisons, police stations, courtrooms and legal offices.

They would probably be initially used for routine appearances, such as pre-trial sessions, but could be extended to cover all aspects of the courts system, enabling juries and judges to work away from the courtroom.

Mr Power told the Herald the proposal had "real appeal" for cost savings.

He was conscious of the traditional status of the courtroom and the ability of a "judge to look a defendant in the eye", but said technological advances and the need for reform could not be ignored.

"We are not going to be constrained by the historical notions of those with an institutional investment in the court process.

"The point is to reduce delays, and make it victim- and witness-friendly."

Mr Power said the use of video links would have to be checked against the Bill of Rights, which entitled everyone to a "fair and public hearing", to be present at their trial and to be able to examine witnesses.

"Middle-range" estimates calculated it would cost $22 million to install and run the technology in 52 places over four years.

Over that time, it would save $43.1 million.

Mr Power said the use of video links would be part of a new criminal procedure bill intended to be made public by the end of the year and in force by the end of 2010.

Official advice prepared for Mr Power says video links will reduce delays and benefit all court-users who have to travel to be there - victims, witnesses, defendants, judges, lawyers and parties in civil disputes.

The official advice says an example of cost savings would be the $22.3 million a year spent on transporting prisoners under the current requirement that they be in court every time something happens involving their case, even if it is a routine procedural matter.

The advice says it costs $131 each time a prisoner is taken to and from court, and last year, Corrections and police carried out 170,000 such transfers.

Corrections chief executive Barry Matthews recently complained of the difficulties in taking double-killer Graeme Burton to court for each routine appearance on charges of stabbing a fellow prisoner.

The advice also notes that the Ombudsman recommended more use of video links in his report on the fatal bashing of teenager Liam Ashley in a prison van by George Charlie Baker while they were being taken to court.

Video links are now used only to take evidence from some witnesses in criminal trials, particularly those who are overseas.

Only eight permanent video-link setups are installed in the 226 hearing rooms in New Zealand's courts.

The advice given to Mr Power says video links are widely used in American, Australian and Canadian courts.

It details available technology such as split-screens, and advances being made such as "hologram" technology.

And it says justice officials estimate 14,900 court appearances a year are unnecessary.

A defendant can wait a year for a District Court jury trial, and the average delay is increasing by a week each year. High Court trials are 16 months behind and the average delay is increasing by a month a year.

The number of cases dismissed because of excessive delays has tripled to 19 in three years, and the number of remand prisoners awaiting trial has risen from 534 in 1998 to 1771 last year.