CASH BOOST FOR CROWN COURT IT REVOLUTION

The government has unveiled a 94 million cash injection to bring the IT revolution to the Crown Court.

The Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine, has secured an additional 62 million of funding from the government's spending review 2000; this is in addition to the extra 32 million his department announced last May.

'The benefits which new technology can bring to criminal proceedings are enormous,' said Lord Irvine.

'The desire to modernise has long been present, now the resources are in place to realise those improvements.'

Ian Magee, chief executive of the Court Service, said: 'There is enormous scope for greater use of evidence in an electronic form - photographs, maps, witness statements and bank statements can all be displayed at the flick of a button.

This will make proceedings easier and clearer for jurors and witnesses to follow.

Mr Magee continued 'With some proceedings now involving evidence that is itself electronic (such as the use of the Internet by paedophiles), we are also expecting reductions in the lengths of trials.'Putting far more court records and processes in an electronic form would lead to other benefits, Mr Magee said, such as: court officials being able to enter onto a system the outcome of cases instantly, and check court listings to allow the judge and parties to set dates for trials or further hearings; courts being able to tell prison or probation services about sentences imposed immediately; and jury summoning officers being able to check police databases for potential jurors' criminal records.

Kingston Crown Court is being piloted as the 'Pathfinder' centre for the programme.

The project will be fully functioning in March, and will run for four years.Additional pilot schemes at other Crown Court centres will be announced later this year.

Neil Rose