For those readers wishing to become more familiar with courtroom language in English, I thought you might be interested in this new initiative…

The High Court of Australia will commence making available to the public audio-visual recordings of its hearings from 1 October, 2013.

The High Court has been considering how to improve public access to its hearings. All hearings of the Court are open to the public. The Court also provides online access to a wide range of case-specific information. The Court has now decided to take the further step of publishing on its website audio-visual recordings of Full Court hearings heard in Canberra.

Recordings will be made available from an archive on the Court’s website, initially likely to be a few business days after hearings. This will allow for vetting of recordings to avoid the possibility of information which should not be published being published – such as a name which is the subject of a publication constraint. This delay is likely to be reduced as Court experience grows. The recordings will cover all Full Court hearings heard in Canberra, other than Applications for Special Leave. 

Watch the recordings on the High Court’s website here. Transcripts are also available -link above each video take you directly to the Australian Legal Information Institute database.

You might also be interested in this post about the Brazilian Supreme Court YouTube channel, or this one on the UK Supreme Court and its YouTube Channel.