Courtrooms matter
.Anyone who has visited the new civil court centre in Manchester is bound to be impressed. There might be two views about whether, viewed from the outside, the modern architecture is attractive. Some rave about it, others are not so sure. There can only be one conclusion about the inside of the building. It is magnificent.
Inevitably the press has had to seek different angles on this, and various lawyers have been quoted as saying that it is all very well spending money on court rooms, but what about the budget for legal aid? Of course it is true that when you have proper court rooms you have to make sure that the public have a realistic prospect of being able to have access to them. However proper court rooms themselves contribute considerably to the efficient and effective administration of justice.
As it happens the new court centre was built at a financially propitious moment. Due to the massive new Spinningfields development, of which this new building forms a small part, it was possible to obtain the new building on rather better financial terms than would otherwise have been the case. Longer term considerations and building requirements must always be considered along with the legal aid cash requirements for that year.
The prospect of more sittings in the provinces by the Court of Appeal etc will have been enhanced by the building. That has cost savings and implications for the delivery of justice locally. Frankly the facilities are outstandingly better than those available at the Royal Courts of Justice. One only has to compare the Vice-Chancellor's court (the present incumbent Mr Justice Patten, Vice-Chancellor of the County Palatine of Lancaster which means head of Chancery business on both the Northern and North Eastern Circuits) with that of the Chancellor (which of course will be a trial or appellate court depending on which capacity the Chancellor is sitting at the time). There is ample space in the Vice-Chancellor's court room for conducting the most complex of civil litigation. Carousels by leading and junior counsel's rows, with additional side shelving, so that in even the most document heavy case there is plenty of room for the shelving of bundles. (Anyone who has ever been in a case where the number of bundles goes well into three figures, which means that between leader junior and solicitor the number of bundles can exceed a thousand, knows what chaos the court room can be thrown into if there is not sufficient space for the documents to be there). Comfortable chairs (those who like me suffer from back problems will know that the Victorian court benches appear to be designed as some sort of primitive torture chamber). Deep benches, so there is space for key documents as well as laptops. Internet access for the laptops, through a central system, so that you can check your online reports and other legal services without worrying whether your connection will be broken. Live Video screen link, so that witnesses from anywhere in the world can have their testimony fed direct into the court room.
These are the type of commercial considerations which will lead businessman to feel confident that their commercial disputes are being resolved in a proper setting. I am told by those operating in other spheres, such as family work, that similar user-friendly considerations have gone to the construction of those courts in the new centre.
Proper court rooms, designed with the users in mind, facilitate Justice. They are also more impressive. The conduct of cases should impress people with the fairness and importance of the legal process. It helps if the setting does the same.