Chief Prosecutor: Let Justice Be Seen On TV

The Director of Public Prosecutions says he is backing Sky News' campaign for TV cameras in court so that the public can "see justice".

Keir Starmer QC has thrown his weight behind the proposals put forward by Sky and other broadcasters to allow some proceedings in court to be filmed.

He told Sky's Dermot Murnaghan: "There has been a long standing principle that courts are open to the public, but the public cannot get there.

"Cameras would allow them to see what is going on and to understand the process.

"It is the modern way of making sure the public actually see justice."

He acknowledged there would have to be safeguards when dealing with vulnerable witnesses and difficult issues but said now was the time for "openness".

"Cameras should be allowed and the judge should be able to have discretion to order that a particular part of the trial cannot be shown," he said.

"If people saw prosecutors explaining the case and the defence and saw the judge giving the sentence to the individual, they would have much greater faith in what is going on in court."

Mr Starmer said there was no universal position on the issue, but believed the balance was now "tipping towards those in favour".

Section 41 of the Criminal Justice Act 1925 makes it an offence to film inside courts.

Sky News has been pressing for the restrictions on TV cameras to be lifted since the successful campaign for General Election leaders' debates .

In a speech to the Cambridge Union Society last year, the head of Sky News, John Ryley, said: "There remains one more branch of our democratic system which broadcasting has still not properly penetrated - the courts.

"If the legislature is to be subject to far greater scrutiny so too must the judiciary, so the public can fairly judge the balance of responsibility between them.

"Sky News will be campaigning hard to lift the ban on cameras in courts. We will explore every opportunity to mount a legal challenge against the ban on cameras."

But family and divorce lawyer Vanessa Lloyd Platt told Sky News she was against the proposals.

"I think it will put clients off and when people are facing cameras it makes them extra nervous and as a result less credible.

"It will also be another intrusion by the media into people's private lives. Private lives should be private."