Lord Chancellor announces 32 million computer system for Crown Courts

A 32 million injection into the Crown Courts to speed up justice, improve efficiency and give witnesses, jurors and victims better treatment was unveiled last week by the Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine.The money will be used to introduce computer systems into the Crown Courts that will present evidence electronically, replace analogue audio recording with digital to increase quality, and provide a general framework for on-line organisation of cases.The injection will contribute to a pilot scheme for ten courts, and it is hoped that the scheme will widen to encompass the whole of England and Wales.

Delivery of the services should start from January 2001, said Lord Irvine.Court Service chief Ian Magee said running a Crown Court for one day costs 8,800 excluding both sides' legal costs.

Jeremy Fleming