UK Supreme Court Launches YouTube Channel

This week, the UK Supreme Court launched a YouTube channel that highlights short summaries of judgments.

According to a press release published by the Court:

"Video of the five-minute summary given by the lead Justice in each appeal as they deliver their judgment will now be posted on the popular video-sharing website YouTube shortly after delivery in court. The move follows the success of the Court’s live web streaming of proceedings provided in partnership with Sky News (...)"

"The Justices’ summaries aim to explain briefly the background to the appeal in hand, the decision the court has reached, and the reasons for that decision. They will now be available online for law students, professionals and anyone interested in the outcome of an appeal to watch at their convenience."

More from the British press:

• The supreme court's YouTube channel is a welcome step for open justice (The Guardian, January 21, 2013)
• Video footage from the UK's most powerful court to be posted on YouTube shortly after rulings (Daily Mail, January 21, 2013)
• YouTube Channel for Court Judgments (Daily Express, January 21, 2013)
• Thumbs up if you like it: court rulings go on YouTube (The Times, January 21, 2013)

Earlier Library Boy posts on YouTube and legal information include:

• YouTube as a Legal Information Tool (January 14, 2007): "The Parisian daily Le Monde reported last week that lawyers representing an individual being detained by U.S. authorities at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp have produced a video posted on YouTube."
• Fighting Crime With YouTube (February 26, 2008): "Last week, the British Broadcasting Corporation published a story about how police officials in the UK have been monitoring the video sharing site YouTube for evidence of crimes. The story, entitled Judge YouTube, describes a number of incidents where videos posted to the site have led to arrests. In many cases, perpetrators of illegal acts filmed themselves and then posted material to the Internet, perhaps as a way of showing off."
• UK Law Reports Get Their Own YouTube Channel (October 28, 2009): "Videos include interviews with the Law Report editors, a history of the ICLR, a video on the process of how a case goes from trial to official report, and a brief introduction to case law research using both online databases and hard copy reference works."
• US Federal Judiciary Gets Its Own YouTube Channel (May 19, 2010): "The U.S. Federal Judiciary launched a radical redesign of its website recently. As part of the redesign, it even created its own YouTube channel."