Old Bailey
|
An Old Bailey trial circa 1808. |
The Central Criminal Court, commonly known as the
Old Bailey (a
bailey being part of a
castle), is a
Crown Court centre (higher criminal court) in
central London, dealing with major criminal cases in
Greater London and, exceptionally, in other parts of
England. It stands on the site of the
medieval Newgate Gaol, in the street also called
Old Bailey which is situated between
Holborn circus and
St Paul's Cathedral. The present building dates from
1907 and was designed by E.W. Mountford. Above the main entrance is inscribed "Defend the Children of the Poor & Punish the Wrongdoer".
All judges sitting in the Old Bailey are addressed as "My Lord" whether they be
High Court, circuit judges or recorders. The
Lord Mayor of London and aldermen of the
City of London are entitled to sit on the judges' bench during a hearing but do not actively participate in trials.
On the dome above the court is to be found the statue of
justice, a woman (without a blindfold), holding in her right hand a sword standing for the power to punish, and in her left hand a balance standing for equity.
Although most court hearings in the UK are public, Court No. 2 has the peculiarity that the witness box is placed underneath the public gallery, thus ensuring the anonymity of witnesses in trials where it is needed.
During the
Blitz, the Old Bailey was bombed and severely damaged, but subsequent reconstruction work restored most of it.
From
1968 to
1972 a new South Block was built containing more modern courts.
The most senior permanent judge of the Central Criminal Court has the title of the Recorder of London, and his deputy has the title of Common Serjeant of London. The present Recorder of London is His Honour Judge Peter Beaumont
QC. , who was appointed in December 2004 following the death earlier that year of his predecessor, His Honour Judge Michael Hyam. The present Common Serjeant is His Honour Judge Brian Barker QC. The position of Recorder of London should not be confused with that of Recorder, which is the name given to lawyers who sit part-time as Crown Court judges. A select number of the most senior criminal lawyers in the country sit at as Recorders in the Central Criminal Court.
The Old Bailey is where Sir
John Mortimer practised as a
barrister. His courtroom experiences led him to create the fictional character
Horace Rumpole, alias
Rumpole of the Bailey.
Trials in the Old Bailey are open to the public, like most criminal trials in the UK, but it is forbidden to take any form of note in writing, and no form of electronic equipment, including mobile phones, can be brought in. The story that a member of the public, whose mobile happened to interrupt a trial and was called before the court and immediately sentenced to six months imprisonment for
contempt of court, is almost certainly untrue.
In the
graphic novel V for Vendetta, the
anarchist protagonist has a "conversation" with the statue of justice, at the top of the building, acting as if she is an ex-girlfriend: he accuses her of cheating on him like a whore with "a man in uniform" but then informs her that her "infidelity" has driven him into the arms of a new "lover", Anarchy. V says that his new love has taught him that "justice" is meaningless without
freedom, and then leaves a parting gift at her feet, a package of explosives which demolish the entire building, symbolising his rejection of the
State in favour of Anarchism.
The destruction of the monument is also present in
the 2006 film adaptation, where it is the title character's first terrorist act, beginning the one year countdown to the destruction of the
Houses of Parliament. What is notably different in the movie, however, is that V "devotes" his performance to "madam justice" (the aforementioned statue of justice) "in honour of the holiday she seems to have taken from these parts, and in recognition of the imposter that stands in her stead." Rather than accusing her of cheating on him, V sees justice as having abandoned her post and been replaced with the harsher punishments and standards of
fascism.
*
Courts of the United Kingdom*
Royal Courts of Justice*
Bow Street Magistrates' Court*
Horseferry Road Magistrates' Court*
Elizabeth Brownrigg (defendant, 1767)
*
The Proceedings of the Old Bailey London 1674 to 1834 - Archive of case details
*
Central Criminal Court from the architectural heritage section of the City of London website
Coordinates: 
