End of stenographers prompts concerns for criminal justice

The digital audio recording and storage system, know as ‘Darts’, was piloted in seven Crown Courts from October 2009 and rolled out nationwide in June last year.

The system was installed at the Old Bailey at the weekend, the last of the 97 Crown and combined courts to be equipped with the new technology.

A spokesperson for the Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) said the system offered numerous benefits including clearer audio quality and backup, easy playback facility, a faster and more efficient service, and secure data transmission.

HMCTS also expects the system to bring about improved business processes and to achieve efficiency savings “by eliminating the need for separate court loggers/stenographers during the proceedings”.

But professional stenographers have warned that relying on recordings could be a false economy.

US courts introduced digital recording more than ten years ago but have now gone back to court reporters, according to the secretary of the British Institute of Verbatim Reporters, Mary Sorene.

“Just because it involves a computer people think it’s a modern step but it’s a short-term saving that could store up long-term trouble,” Sorene told Solicitors Journal.

She warned that there were serious issues with the accuracy of the recording system.

“It picks up every single sound and extraneous noise, and where people speak over each other you cannot identify who is speaking,” she said. “It’s being pictured as a BBC studio but in practice it can be like a bear’s den.”

“Usually when the judge speaks people stay quiet but sometimes there are interruptions and it’s impossible to recognise who is speaking,” Sorene continued.

Already anecdotal reports have emerged from Crown Courts using Darts of witnesses whose voices are so low they are not picked up. “Once a witness is gone, they’re gone,” Sorene commented.

She also mentioned technical issues, such as the fact that only one channel is being used, making it impossible to bring up the sound and enhance the quality of a recording, or glitches in hearing loops causing microphones to switch off.

Another concern is that clerks will simply forget to turn on the microphone or that a faulty microphone will not be detected until after the trial.

HMCTS said there would be no redundancies at the courts service as a result of the implementation of the new system and that it would save £5m a year.

A spokesperson said the transcription companies remain under contract to provide transcripts on request, using the Darts system to access the audio recordings via a web portal along with a feed from XHIBIT, the courts’ case management system.