It was a day well spent at the Inner London Crown Court located at Newington, a district of Central London just south of the River Thames. The Court has 10 court halls in regular use. It was a learning experience interacting with various Barristers and Solicitors. It was a rewarding experience being able to observe developing technology being used to drive efficiencies to improve the functioning of the Courts. The demeanour of the very polite and courteous judicial officers is laudable. Their simplicity and uprightness says it all. They are more practical than theoretical. The Courts function in a very organised manner leaving no room for miscarriages of justice.
The Crown Courts in the United Kingdom deal only with criminal matters pertaining to serious offences like murder, rape, robbery, whilst also hearing appeals against orders passed by the Magistrate courts, which deal with other criminal offences. At the Crown Court, under the guidance and watch of the Judge it is the jury, which decides if the accused is guilty or not while the Judge finally decides on what the punishment should be. The jury consists of twelve ordinary citizens carefully vetted to ensure that they are without bias and are sworn to hear evidence, make findings of fact and render an impartial verdict. The Court rules, procedures and protocol are just commendable. No flimsy adjournments to drag on the cases. It could all be food for thought and ideas that other judiciaries could emulate to ensure a credible and dependable legal system that delivers. The late Lord Denning, a robust advocate of the Law and a renowned British Judge, firmly believed that ‘’The Courts exist to do justice, not to simply apply the law and that the law should be accessible to all, not just the privileged few’’. This was all so evident in these Courts.
