8.
as scribe which adds
Prolixity is very
than the painstaking
Witnesses believe the
There is one other aspect of the judge
to the length of cases and therefore to cost.
difficult to curb. Nothing encourages it more recording by the judge of every word uttered.
court wishes to hear about everything irrelevant. Advocates are led to think even their worst arguments are not going too badly..
in their minds however
9.
The
As well as cost there is the matter of effectiveness.
person in charge of the court and the trial is the judge. lle cannot be fully effective in that function if he is writing all the time. He cannot see what people are doing or anticipate trouble. It has been said that if one goes into any court in Hong Kong one sees the judge with his head down. Frequently the judge has to interrupt the spontaneous flow of evidence in order to catch up. How does he record
an exchange in which he participates himself except by stopping the proceedings?
10.
The urgent need for greatly extended coverage of some sort is well-recognized in the Judiciary. In part the need arises because of the expansion of the Judiciary in recent years. This was essential and had to go ahead with or without full reporting coverage. Considerable efforts have been made. There have been recruiting drives and training schemes. Sound recording was tried without success a few years ago but is now the subject of a promising. experiment. A silent typewriter method has been tried also without success. A pilot scheme by which one court is covered by Computer Assisted Transcription (C.A.T.) is now working very well due to the very creditable efforts of all concerned. The existing body of shorthand writers (53 in all) is deployed as carefully as possible.
11.
:
Despite all these efforts the problem grows. Almost all of more than 100 courts and tribunals are without any service. The fortunate few are those taking High Court crime, each one needing two or three reporters.
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