Witnesses and police officers will be able to use smartphones and tablets to give evidence in court via video in a radical change in some NSW criminal trials.

Known as remote witness evidence, the initiative allows certain witnesses to give testimony using teleconferencing applications such as Skype or Apple's FaceTime.

Skype testimony approved: Witnesses and police officers will now be able to give evidence via teleconferencing applications. Credit:Jason South

The 12-month trial of the system, undertaken with the support of Chief Magistrate Graeme Henson, involved one witness giving evidence at a criminal trial in Moree Local Court from Ireland.

In other cases, testimony was heard in Sydney courts from people who were in England, Macedonia and interstate.