Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to make court and tribunal transcripts more accessible and affordable.

The Government is committed to strengthening transparency across the justice system and is already taking significant steps across all jurisdictions.

We are also committed to upholding the principle of open justice, including embracing AI and exploring the opportunities it offers to produce court and tribunal transcripts more quickly and cost-effectively, while still meeting the necessary accuracy and safeguarding standards.

In the Crown Court, sentencing remarks are now published online in cases of significant public interest, and judges can also permit broadcasters to film Crown Court sentencing remarks, ensuring greater public visibility of judicial decisions.

From spring 2027, the Government is expanding free access to Crown Court sentencing remarks to all victims who request them. This builds on the existing process where victims of rape and serious sexual offences and bereaved families of victims of homicide, manslaughter and fatal road accidents were entitled to free transcripts of Crown Court sentencing remarks. These can be requested here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apply-for-a-transcript-of-a-judges-sentencing-remarks.

In the family court, the Government has also been working to support the judiciary to increase the number of family court judgments published in anonymised form, while ensuring the privacy and protection of children and families involved in proceedings. On more targeted transparency measures, the government is working with the judiciary to roll out new provisions relating to Transparency Orders across England and Wales, providing a clear framework for reporting where a journalist or legal blogger has attended a family court hearing. Since 29 September 2025, provisions relating to Transparency Orders have applied to all children’s cases.

In civil proceedings, litigants in England and Wales do not need to pay for the written order or judgment relating to their own case. This is sent to all parties involved, setting out the court’s reasoning for the decision, which parties can refer to if they wish to appeal that decision.

In tribunal proceedings, any judicial decision and the reasons will be provided to the parties unless there has been an order restricting that. Many of the major tribunal chambers also allow parties to proceedings to request fuller written reasons for tribunal decisions for no additional cost.