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@Stephen Larcombe15 September 2016 09:53 am

Forgive me for any misunderstanding , but how is this a threat to the Bar?

"defendants, victims and witnesses ‘will be able to participate via an audio or video link’." - this happens routinely (Skype, web conferencing, video conferencing)

"allowing crime victims and witnesses to prerecord their cross-examinations to avoid the trauma of court appearances" - evidence will be tested by solicitor or counsel at an earlier stage in proceedings (when memories may fare better), and those recordings are shown to the court as evidence (similar what the USA justice system does when parties show recordings of formal depositions of defendants/witnesses to the court at a final hearing).

Call me cynical but the only thing I see this being a threat to is counsels' excruciatingly high fee note for a lengthy attendances at trial. If the taxpayer is ultimately bearing that cost in legal aid cases, then surely this is a good thing?

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