The UK Supreme Court has made recordings of past cases available to watch online with the launch of a free on-demand video archive.  

Footage of proceedings will be uploaded the next day, and will remain available for approximately one year.

The Supreme Court hopes the initiative will help cut transcript costs and serve as an educational tool for lawyers and law students.

Once a judgment is delivered, the footage of the summary in court will be published alongside the full judgment text and press summary.

The court will show footage from proceedings of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, which hears appeal from a number of Commonwealth countries, as well as all Supreme Court hearings.

Lord Neuberger, president of the Supreme Court said: ‘Now justice can be seen to be done at a time which suits you.

‘The archive will help people see the background to decisions made in our highest appeal court. It will also be useful to the legal profession and serve as an informative tool for those considering a career in the law.’

The Supreme Court enables proceedings to be broadcast through its streaming service, which it says has been used by approximately 15,000 people per month since it was launched in October last year.

The court will fund the new service until March 16, at which point ‘it will be reviewed in the light of user feedback and the court’s other spending priorities’.