57 Crown Courts now have improved e-communications, 53 still to fix

Fifty-seven Crown Court locations are now equipped with technology to enable them to communicate more effectively with victims and witnesses and the wider Criminal Justice System.

The project, which is on time and within budget, will see a further 53 court locations being wired and provided with modern desktop IT and e-mail systems over the next two years, bringing the total receiving the new LINK infrastructure to 110.

The LINK project was officially recognised for using best project management practice when the project team responsible for the implementation won the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) Team Delivery award for 2003. Through close co-operation between the project team, the courts and the wider Criminal Justice System implementation of this multi-million pound project has so far involved very little, if any disruption for court users.

Modernised courts now have sophisticated IT and networks and, in many cases, facilities for the presentation of electronic and video evidence. The value of this new technology has been highlighted at the Central Criminal Court during recent high profile cases, most notably at the trial of Ian Huntley and Maxine Carr when evidence and court proceedings were displayed on large plasma screens around the court, in the jury box and in a nearby media annex.

The technology provides staff with secure email facilities to share information with other criminal justice agencies such as the Police Service, Crown Prosecution Service, Prison Service, Probation Service, Serious Fraud Office, Appeal Courts and Magistrates Courts. This will result in a faster and more effective service as more defendants are processed through the system. Internet access will also aid judicial research.

This technology also provides a "future proofed" platform for new IT systems when they are introduced. For example, Prison Video Links have already been installed in 30 Crown Courts. These allow preliminary hearings for defendants in custody via video conferencing to the prison, saving time and money.

Courts Minister Christopher Leslie said:

"This modernisation enhances the ability of the criminal courts to deliver justice and promote confidence amongst court users and the general community. It allows victims and vulnerable and intimidated witnesses to give evidence, for instance, from locations outside the actual courtroom so that they don't have to confront the defendant."

Lord Justice Brooke, Vice President of the Court of Appeal (Civil Division) and Judge in Charge of Modernisation, said:

"The programme represents the very important first stage in our plans for modernising the courts of England and Wales. By 2006 there will be a modern IT infrastructure in every Crown Court centre. There is also very important work being done to modernise our civil and family courts. Badly needed infrastructure was installed in eight civil courts in March, and there are plans to include many more of these courts in the programme.

"The judges have given the programme their full support from the outset, so long as all our courts are helped by it. It is now beginning to provide real benefits for court users."

The roll out of IT infrastructure to Crown Courts commenced in August 2003 and will be completed by March 2006. It will cost 175 million in total. Those who will be using it include victims, witnesses, jurors, court staff, legal practitioners, judges, clerks and various support agencies.

The infrastructure will provide users with Desktop IT facilities including Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Users will be connected to the Government Secure Intranet which will provide secure e-mail facilities within the Criminal Justice System, creating a wider network for communicating with customers and other Government Agencies. Users will also be able to access the Departmental intranet. Critically the project also installs data and power infrastructure for current and future requirements, ensuring that we do not 'dig up' courts twice.

The rollout of the implementation programme to install the infrastructure within each court has gone smoothly and is on time and to budget. Disruption to court business has been kept to the minimum.