AI Transcription for Court Hearings
Achieving 98% accuracy for judicial notes with AI speech-to-text in high-stakes court proceedings
Scottish Courts & Tribunals | 837+ documents generated | 12 months governance | "Game changer" feedback from judges
The Challenge
Judges in court hearings need accurate notes for judicial records, report preparation, and case review. Traditionally, they either took notes manually during proceedings or relied on Crown notes—both methods had limitations.
The challenge: deploy AI transcription in a high-stakes legal environment with strict accuracy requirements, robust governance, and full audit trails—while handling strong Scottish accents.
Governance & Compliance
DPIA, lawful basis, legislation, and security clearance took 12 months before soft launch.
Accuracy Requirements
High-stakes environment required 98%+ accuracy. Hundreds of hours of testing with real Scottish accents.
Audio Quality
Tightly controlled environment with high-quality audio recordings from formal court hearings.
Integration
Seamless integration into existing judicial workflows without disrupting established processes.
Our Solution
- Selected formal court hearings as pilot due to controlled environment and high-quality audio
- Ran hundreds of hours of testing to achieve 98% accuracy with Scottish accents
- Completed full DPIA, lawful basis assessment, and security review (12 months)
- Built human-in-the-loop quality assurance process
- Created full audit trail for all transcriptions
- Deployed with data residency controls (UK-based processing)
The Results
Improved Focus
Judges can focus on the jury, accused, and proceedings rather than note-taking.
Better Preparation
Transcripts assist with report preparation and case review.
Submission Support
Easy to check what was discussed at Commission for submissions.
Independence
No longer reliant on Crown noter. Judges have their own accurate record.
Feedback from Judges
Real feedback from Scottish Courts judiciary
"Allows me to focus on other things, like keeping an eye on the Jury, accused etc."
"The transcripts are useful for preparing reports."
"Able to assist with any submission made by parties regarding what was/ what was not discussed at the Commission, by checking the details in the transcript."
"Prior to the introduction of the AI transcripts, I had to rely on the Crown in providing a copy of the notes taken by the crown noter. I was also required to take notes during the playing of the commission disc at trial, which was by no means ideal for a variety of reasons."
"I have found the provision of the AI transcripts as something of a "game changer"."
Key Takeaways
- Governance takes time: 12 months for DPIA, lawful basis, and security clearance—but it's essential for trust.
- Testing is critical: Hundreds of hours testing with real Scottish accents to achieve 98% accuracy.
- Start small: Formal court hearings were chosen for controlled environment and high-quality audio.
- User feedback matters: Judges report it as a "game changer" for their workflow.
- Move at the speed of trust: Do not rush AI adoption in justice. Build confidence through pilots and evidence.
Next Generation: Solving Speaker Diarization
Tackling the global challenge of "who said what" with ceiling beam array microphones
The Global Challenge
Speaker diarization—knowing "who said what"—is one of the hardest problems in courtroom AI. Legacy single-channel audio from traditional desk microphones delivers:
Making transcripts nearly useless without manual correction
When multiple people speak in a courtroom—judges, advocates, witnesses—traditional microphones mix all voices into a single audio channel. AI struggles to distinguish speakers, requiring extensive manual work to label "who said what."
The Solution: Ceiling Beam Arrays
BMA 360 ceiling array microphones use beamforming technology to:
- Form individual beams for each speaker location (bench, bar, witness box)
- Capture multi-channel audio with dedicated channels per speaker zone
- Remove desk clutter—no visible microphones on desks or benches
- Flexible beam steering—adapt to different court layouts
The result: a cleaner, state-of-the-art courtroom with dramatically better AI transcription capabilities.
Next-Generation Courtroom
Ceiling beam array microphones remove desk clutter while dramatically improving speaker identification
Proof of Concept Results
Live pilot launched September 2025 in Glasgow High Court
Initial QA Findings:
| Metric | Average Accuracy |
|---|---|
| Content (Text) | >95% |
| Speaker Identification | >85% |
Results achieved with off-the-shelf models and no court-specific fine-tuning—demonstrating significant room for further improvement.
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