Agenda item

Joint report of the Secondary and the Comptroller & City Solicitor.

The Sub Committee considered a joint report of the Secondary of London and the Comptroller and City Solicitor providing Members with further clarification as to the risk of permitting mobile phones and other smart technology into the public galleries at the Central Criminal Court.

The Secondary stated that this report further highlighted the risks of permitting mobile phones or other smart technology into the public galleries at the Central Criminal Court. These included not only huge reputational risks but also the risk of contempt of court proceedings.

The Committee were informed that an added difficulty was that the public viewing galleries at the Central Criminal Court were raised and situated off-centre meaning they were not in direct view of the well of the Court or Court staff.

The Comptroller and City Solicitor reported that the recommendation that the current policy in this area should be maintained was in line with the rules followed by HMCTS. He added that the policy would apply to mobile phones as well as other forms of smart technology and recordable devices.

The Recorder reported that he had had the opportunity to feed in to this report at various stages and felt that it was correct for this Sub-Committee to now take a final view on this.

The Secondary reminded Members that the original policy paper had been put to the Sub Committee for consideration in October 2016 and so it was therefore proposed that this be reviewed further in October 2017 and, thereafter, on an annual basis.

RESOLVED – That, the current position of retaining the prohibition of mobile phones and other recordable devices in the public galleries remains until reviewed in October 2017.