Sentencing videos: copyright, court recording and publication policy

Purpose and scope

The feature supports public legal education and open-justice reference. CJH is an independent publisher. Inclusion does not imply endorsement by a court, the Judiciary, the Ministry of Justice or a video provider.

Entries provide general information, not advice about an individual case. A selection of sentencing remarks cannot show every part of a case or predict the outcome of another. Some material describes violence or other distressing events.

Court recording and broadcasting

The Crown Court (Recording and Broadcasting) Order 2020 permits specified sentencing recordings under controlled conditions. Recording is limited to the judge giving sentencing remarks in open court, with written judicial permission, by a person authorised in writing by the Lord Chancellor.

Broadcasts must respect reporting restrictions. Their overall presentation and context must be fair and accurate. The Order prohibits use for party political broadcasts, light entertainment, satire and advertising or promotion outside its specified exception. It does not give the public a general licence to film court proceedings or reuse footage.

How CJH uses videos and links

Our publication rule is to use direct links to the original publisher and, where available and appropriate, live embeds through that publisher’s source-platform player. An embed must remain unaltered by CJH and enabled by the provider. We do not bypass access controls or replace unavailable footage with an unauthorised copy.

CJH does not download, store, copy, edit, clip, rehost, re-upload or separately retransmit the footage. We do not create screenshots, GIFs, audio extracts or screen recordings from it. The original provider supplies the video to the visitor’s browser.

Public availability and an enabled embed are not conclusive evidence of permission or lawful publication. Editors must check provenance and applicable terms. If a source becomes unavailable, embedding is disabled or a credible legal concern arises, the entry must be reviewed and the affected embed or link disabled where appropriate.

External links take you to another service, whose content, availability and terms may change. A link is a source reference, not an endorsement or permission to reuse the linked material.

Copyright and reuse

Article 6 of the 2020 Order requires the authorised recorder to assign any copyright in the recording of sentencing remarks to the Lord Chancellor for and on behalf of the Crown. A publisher may hold separate rights in its own editorial material, such as branding, graphics and commentary.

CJH claims rights only in its own original editorial content to the extent that it owns them. We do not claim ownership of court footage, third-party material or the underlying facts. Use of CJH content is addressed in our Terms of Use.

Showing a player or providing a link does not grant visitors permission to copy or redistribute video content. Any reuse must have the necessary permission, an applicable licence or a relevant statutory exception, and must also respect court restrictions. This policy does not remove rights or exceptions provided by law.

The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, section 16, reserves specified acts to copyright owners, subject to the Act’s exceptions and licensing provisions. See also section 17 on copying and section 20 on communication to the public. We do not assume that Crown ownership makes footage freely reusable.

Sources, accuracy and context

Official Judiciary sentencing remarks are our first source for the sentence and the judge’s reasoning. The original publisher’s video is a secondary source for the recorded presentation. Where a later official correction, order or appeal decision changes the position, the entry must reflect that development.

Editors must verify the case, court, judge, date, offences and sentence, distinguish a minimum term from a determinate sentence, and explain any stated remand credit without subtracting it twice. A minimum term under a life sentence is not a promised release date.

CJH summaries use neutral language and distinguish judicial findings from allegations or submissions. Written sentencing remarks are not labelled as a verbatim transcript of an edited video. Entries must identify missing official material, unresolved discrepancies and the date of their last substantive review.

Reporting restrictions and editorial clearance

Every entry remains subject to applicable reporting restrictions, anonymity protections, postponement orders, court directions and other legal requirements. Publication elsewhere does not establish that CJH may publish the same information in a new context.

Before publication and after a material change, our editorial process requires a recorded review of:

• Available court orders, official notices and relevant statutory anonymity protections, with court enquiries where the position is unclear.
• Active or linked proceedings, appeals and any potential prejudice from the entry’s content or presentation.
• Identification of protected people through names, images or a combination of otherwise indirect details, including information in titles, metadata and linked material.
• Source provenance, accuracy, rights, accessibility and privacy checks, with the evidence, date, reviewer and publication decision recorded.

Unresolved legal clearance must be escalated and publication held, or the affected existing content restricted pending review. A checklist tick alone is not evidence of clearance.

The Contempt of Court Act 1981, section 2, addresses publications creating a substantial risk of serious impediment or prejudice to active proceedings. Schedule 1 determines when proceedings, including appeals, are active. A completed sentencing hearing does not settle every publication issue.

Neither inclusion in this library nor a last-checked date is a declaration that no restrictions exist. A disclaimer does not replace editorial checks or remove legal responsibility.

Corrections, removal requests and legal concerns

Please contact CJH to report an error, rights concern, reporting restriction, privacy issue or accessibility barrier. Include the page address, the affected material, the reason for your concern and a way to contact you. For an urgent reporting restriction, identify the court and order or statutory protection if known. Do not send unnecessary sensitive information or reproduce protected details in a public comment.

Our review process requires prompt assessment of credible concerns and temporary restriction of affected material where necessary. Editors must investigate the source and relevant evidence, record their decision and make any required correction or removal. Restoration requires a documented review. Significant factual corrections should be explained without repeating protected information.

Requests are considered on their circumstances. Making a request does not automatically determine its outcome. Contact information and review records must be handled in accordance with the Privacy Policy.

Accessibility and alternatives

Each entry should provide a readable summary and a prominent link to official written remarks where available. These provide information in text but may not reproduce everything said or shown in the video.

Editors must check and record caption availability and the operation of the player and activation controls with a keyboard. Automatic captions may contain errors, particularly in names and legal terms. Entry-specific limitations should be stated clearly. Third-party players and documents may have accessibility barriers.

See our Accessibility Statement or contact us about an alternative format. A text summary or link alone does not establish full accessibility compliance.

Third-party video, privacy and cookies

Loading a YouTube video connects your browser to YouTube/Google. The provider may receive information such as your IP address, browser and device details, and information about your interaction with the player. It may use cookies or similar storage and access technologies. Data processing can begin when a player loads, before you press play.

Each sentencing page starts with a local text placeholder. The player loads only when you select Load video from YouTube on that page, including if you have previously accepted all optional cookies. Before this choice, the video feature must not load YouTube scripts, tracking pixels or remote thumbnails. The player uses youtube-nocookie.com and does not autoplay. That domain does not mean there is no personal-data processing or that consent is unnecessary.

Your choice applies only to the current page visit. Navigating to another page resets it. Loading a video does not grant CJH analytics or campaign consent. The notice beside the button explains the YouTube processing associated with loading the player; it does not authorise unspecified additional purposes. You can read the summary and follow official-source links without enabling the video.

Select Remove video and withdraw permission to unload the player. Selecting Reject all optional cookies in the site’s cookie controls also unloads it. These actions stop the embedded player from continuing to run on that page. They cannot undo data already transmitted to YouTube/Google or erase information that the provider has already stored. Opening the original video link takes you to YouTube, where its own controls and policies apply.

CJH records video permission and withdrawal events in its cookie audit records to document your choice. Each event contains a random identifier, the time and the notice version. These audit records do not include your IP address or browser user-agent. This describes the permission audit record, not all website or third-party processing. These records are retained for up to 24 months under the site’s consent-record retention schedule.

See the Privacy Policy and Cookies page for the provider, purposes, technologies, choices and consent-record retention. YouTube/Google controls its processing, including any international transfers: read Google’s Privacy Policy and cookie information.

See the ICO’s guidance on managing consent. A privacy-enhanced player or notice alone does not establish compliance.

Related information

• Privacy Policy
• Cookies
• Accessibility Statement
• Terms of Use
• Contact CJH