Media Law videos on UK courts - useful for journalism students

The news that Supreme Court Judgements are now available on youtube led me to revisit the video of the UK's first ever televised sentencing.  

But it also had me thinking about some of the videos around the web that might be of use to journalism students who want to understand the basics about how the court system works. So here are a few quick links:

Criminal courts:

• 4min video on who’s who in magistrates’ court  from the University of Derby
• Ministry of justice video aimed at new jurors, but has good basic info about how courts work at 4mins.15 and from 7mins.45 to 11mins.45
• What types of sentence can offenders get? Video lasts 1.38. By The Sentencing Council.
• The You be the judge site has a reasonable explanation of a criminal case at crown court in case on burglary. But there are others to choose from.
• What the CPS does and what happens in court  Viewers might want to watch a short clip  from the middle of this video.

Civil cases:

• A 2.5 minute Minustry of Justice video on what happens when a county court hearing takes place in court… 
• …and one on hearings in chambers

Plus some nice old BBC newsreel-type footage on the famous Liberace libel case

Courts and councils: please make it easier to get information

I've been putting together some sessions on news reporting and the role of PR people and press offices for journalism students I've been working with. This has included going to watch and report on Southampton City Council meetings and the students have also taken part in a mock press conference with Council press officers.

My visit to the council came not long after attending the Justice Wide Open media law event at City University and it struck me that some of the same information issues raised at the law event could also apply to councils.

How easy is to get court information?
Speakers at Justice Wide Open, including information campaigner Heather Brooke and press association legal correspondent Mike Dodd, criticised the difficulties journalists and members of the public face when trying to find out about and attend court cases. Lists of cases are not always available and some courts appear to revel in the mystique and idiosyncracies of our legal system. Two proposals stood out: