[Solved] Transcription of audio and video for court

It would be helpful for the court to note the times down the side of the transcription. I wouldn't add notes to the actual transcription, but you can refer to particular entries in your statement; by including the time you are assisting the court to be able to find the entry more easily.

Whether to transcribe the whole is probably down to length, personally I would just transcribe the relevant sections, but provide the whole recording on CD. I wouldn't advise cleaning the background as that might be misinterpreted.

Thank you Mojo. I attended the FHDRA today and after requesting permission to file the recorded evidence in my position statement have now been allowed to do so. A huge relief after being told by Family Rights Group that I would not be able to as it would be seen as underhand given that my ex was not aware of the recordings.

This is hugely important - there seems to be widespread belief that taking recordings without someones knowledge may be illegal or that such evidence may not be allowed by the courts. For any parents out there who are the victims of false allegations, or who have safeguarding concerns, I strongly suggest recording as a method of proving your innocence. It is not illegal, as confirmed by the police and my solicitor at the time. I offer this advice with the disclaimer that it is in the parents interests to get this independently confirmed by a legal entity and cannot be held liable for anything that goes wrong. I'm simply relating my own experiences for the benefit of other fathers.

I have applied for residency of our children based on these recordings. Whether or not I will be successful is yet to be seen. Hopefully, as suggested by other members in the past, false allegations will actually benefit my case. I know that I can prove them to be false but I still feel that, taking into account other fathers experiences going through the family court system, that the scales are still unfairly balanced against fathers. Time will tell.

Hi There,
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It seems as though things are moving in the right direction, I agree with Mojo around the transcripts, I would capture the important sections with times and dates, but leave the rest but supply the full recording. I wouldn't edit at all even to clean up the sound, as Mojo has saaid this could be taken as editing and you could be accused of changing the actual content to suit your case.
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GTTS

Some of the recordings are partially inaudible because my camera produces background noise and there were often moments where noises from outside would interfere with what was being said. I was thinking of providing both the original copies and copies where the background noise is removed simply for clarity. There is lots of software available to do this.

The actual content would still be the same. The conversations would be without gaps and would have a natural flow to them. I'm just concerned that the background noise could be enough to cause a judge to dismiss them as inaudible and my case would fall apart.

I would of course still be prepared to supply the original recordings either way.

Hi,
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I guess if you are supplying the originals, then you may be covered, personally I wouldn't change them at all, give them as they are and transcibe them, if the judge can't hear them, you could offer to have them cleaned up.
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GTTS