Meta glasses banned from courts in England and Wales

Meta glasses have been banned from courts in England and Wales by HMCTS, the organization responsible for all criminal, civil, and family courts in the region. The ban follows a similar prohibition in New York, where the use of the controversial glasses was deemed inadmissible due to their potential to surreptitiously record court proceedings.

HMCTS stated that anyone attempting to enter court buildings wearing Meta glasses will have them confiscated and returned upon exiting. This decision comes amid growing concern over the privacy implications of the glasses, which can record video footage while being worn. The use of Meta glasses for recording images or videos within court buildings is already prohibited in the UK without official permission and can lead to prosecution as contempt of court.

While lawyers and members of the public are permitted to enter courts with smartphones, which can record both video and audio, no such exception will be made for smart glasses. A source revealed that smartphones are allowed, provided they are not used to record court procedures.

The ban has been prompted by incidents of smart glasses being used to coach lawyers during trials, such as the case of Laimonas Jakštys, who was accused of receiving coaching through his smart glasses while giving evidence in a high court case. The judge in that case, Raquel Agnello KC, ordered Jakštys to remove the glasses and subsequently found him guilty of assisting or coaching himself during cross-examination.

Meta, the manufacturer of the glasses, has not commented on the court ban. However, they have previously noted that the glasses emit a pulsing light visible to others when recording, and that their tamper detection technology is designed to prevent users from covering this light during recordings. The glasses have also been labeled "pervert glasses" due to fears about their potential use to film people, particularly women, without their consent.