NEW OFFERING DIGITAL AUDIO RECORDING ACCESS

For the last two years, Legal Data Resources (Manitoba) Corporation (LDRC) and Manitoba Justice have been working on a system to give lawyers timely access to some of the digital audio recordings (DAR) made at the Winnipeg Courthouse. The system is currently being used to provide access to adult criminal matters recorded in Court Rooms 114, 120, 214, 404, 405, and 411 (three Queen's Bench and three Provincial Court courtrooms). It has been tested by a small number of criminal defence counsel and by several Crown Attorneys with Justice Manitoba - Prosecutions Branch.

While DAR does not yet provide coverage of all in-court activities, LDRC and the Manitoba Justice wanted to ensure that all members of the Manitoba Bar had "level playing field" access to the system as currently developed. Accordingly, LDRC will accept subscription applications from members of the profession who are interested in having this tool available to them. The service is free, but priority will be given to criminal practitioners who have active cases before the courts. The subscription forms authorized by the Manitoba Justice restrict use of the system to active files and to work in support of active files.

DAR (For the Record Player) operates on personal computers, and users will need to install the necessary software. The list of compatible operating systems can be found on the software developer’s website at http://www.fortherecord.com/

The digital audio files will be accessible following the daily consolidation by Transcription Services, and typically are available to users by mid afternoon on the next business day after the recording took place.

All practitioners who are interested in receiving a subscription form should contact LDRC as follows:

E-mail: admin@ldrc.net

Telephone: (204) 984-9840

Fax: (204) 949-0770

Toll Free: 1-800-463-4816

In partnership with Manitoba Justice, LDRC is pleased to be able to move forward with this new initiative, and looks forward to advancing DAR for the benefit of the profession and to improve access to justice generally.

Ronald L. Coke, Chairman