SC to live stream hearings: How do courts in other countries do it?

In a judgment in September 2018, the apex court declared a live telecast of court proceedings part of the right to access justice under Article 21 of the Constitution

In a first, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said that all constitution bench hearings from next week onwards would be live streamed. On Tuesday, a full court comprising all judges of the apex court discussed the same and agreed on live-streaming the proceedings. 

Next week onwards, all constitution bench hearings in the Supreme Court will be live streamed. Reports said that the live streaming of SC hearings could start on September 27, with the telecast of constitutional cases on a regular basis. 

The SC judges came to this decision by a judgment in September 2018, in which the apex court declared a live telecast of court proceedings part of the right to access justice under Article 21 of the Constitution.

Senior SC advocate Indira Jaising has said that the court should have its own channel, and in the meantime, the court can start streaming its proceedings on its website and on YouTube. 

This is not the first time an Indian court has announced that it will live-stream hearings.

Which other courts live stream their case hearings?

In India, Gujarat, Orissa, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Patna, and Madhya Pradesh High Courts live-stream their proceedings through their YouTube channels. The Indian draft rules have a ten-minute delay on the live stream. The Gujarat and Karnataka High Courts only live stream the Chief Justice's Court on YouTube. 

The draft rules require all cases to be streamed, barring those that fall within limited exceptions. According to Supreme Court Observer, the rules also say that nothing 'uncivil or inappropriate' should be streamed.

Nations that live stream their court hearings

United States

The Supreme Court of the United States streams its hearings in audio format at the end of each week. The US top court publishes hearings on its website and Oyez of all cases. Oyez is a multimedia judicial archive of the Supreme Court of the United States' proceedings.

Brazil

The Supreme Federal Court of Brazil live streams hearings of all cases in video format on television.

UK

The UK Supreme Court live streams hearings of all cases in video format on its website.

Canada

The Canadian Supreme Court also live streams hearings of all its cases in video format on its website.

Australia 

The Australian Supreme Court streams hearings of its full-court cases on its website with a delay of about a day. Meanwhile, the High Court of Australia (HCA) does not live-stream its proceedings. 

On the other hand, the constitutional courts of Germany and France do not upload any recordings of proceedings.