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03 March 2017 / Dr Jon Robins
Issue: 7736 / Categories: Features , Profession
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Out in the open

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As the Open Justice Charter is launched in the UK, can we learn from our legal colleagues in the US, asks Jon Robins

At the end of last month the American lawyers who defended Steven Avery and featured in the groundbreaking documentary Making a Murderer lent their support to a new campaign calling for greater transparency and accountability in our justice system.

Cameras in courts

The ban on cameras in courts on this side of the Atlantic means a UK version of the Netflix hit is nigh on impossible. Over three of its 10 hours comprised trial footage. “That is more time than Dr Zhivago spent on the entire Russian Revolution,” according to Dean Strang who, along with Jerome Buting, acted for Avery and his nephew Brendan Dassey.

The two lawyers argue that the presence of cameras in courts provides a powerful check on the justice system. “A judge who perceives that the public is watching wants to be on best behaviour,” Strang told MPs, lawyers, journalists and campaigners at a meeting

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