The Cabinet is considering a proposal to introduce digital recording in the courts, The Nassau Guardian has learned. The project, which is being underwritten by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), underwent a test run in November during a murder trial as a court reporter took notes of the proceedings for comparison. According to well-placed sources, the audio recording system is expected to come on-stream early this year. Unlike other jurisdictions where court reporters have been replaced by machines, the devices will be used to supplement their work, according to a well-placed source.
Another source said that the recorders will free court reporters from taking transcripts at pre-trial conferences, arraignments, and uncontested divorces. Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson foreshadowed the implementation of digital recording during her maiden address to the Senate after the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) won the government last May. A pilot project done in 2006/7 was abandoned when the PLP lost the government in 2007. She said in May, "The Court Reporter's Unit is critical to the administration of justice. The performance of the unit impacts Swift Justice.
The prosecutors at OAG (Office of the Attorney General) are not able to prosecute matters that are the subject of completed preliminary enquiries until transcripts of the enquiries are completed. The performance of the unit also impacts the civil courts. It is simply unsatisfactory for litigants to wait for sometimes more than a year to receive a transcript. Serious consideration will also be given to the implementation of digital recording, following the successful pilot project done in 2006/7."
The court reporters initially opposed plans to introduce the program as they had the mistaken view that they would be replaced by machines. Sources say most reporters have now warmed to the idea since it has been explained that the recorders would lessen their workload. Today there are 32 reporters in New Providence; 18 of them work for private contractor Ludell Theophilus and 14 are employed by the public service. Of the six reporters in Grand Bahama, half of them are contracted workers. Court reporting was first introduced to The Bahamas in 1989 by Czerenda Court Reporting Service (CCRS), which was owned by American Randal Czerenda. CCRS continued to provide the service until 1999 when the contract was awarded to Theophilus.
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