Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Just What is happening to the English Magistrates Courts system...?

Keith Harris | 19.12.2006 01:03 | Analysis | Repression

Magistrates courts were once a place where the accused would sit on a bench to face the magistrates. Now many magistrates courts in the UK contain glass enclosures (docks) reminiscent of those used in the Saddam Hussein trial. So what is going on?

Quite recently I paid a visit to Chelmsford Magistrates Court, located in the Old Town Hall, and was staggered to see that whoever had to appear before the magistrates, charged with any offence, had to stand like a wild and dangerous animal inside an enclosed strengthened glass cage.

Anyone in the enclosed dock has great difficulty in hearing what is going on in the courtroom and has to stand with an ear close to a narrow gap between the glass panels, which are at least 10ft high, in order to hear what is being said.

The door leading from the enclosure is not locked if you enter the enclosure from within the courtroom – which seems to be a requirement for all persons walking into the court as a free person to appear before the magistrates. However, one can be almost certain that the door to the courtroom would be locked when someone is brought up the stairs which lead up to the rear of the enclosure from the custodial cells below the court.

Is this the way we wish to see things go in our magistrates courts? What lesson is this teaching our younger generation who often end up in such oppressive surroundings and who can only surely feel themselves criminalized? I would be interested to know just how many courts in the land now have such 'security' measures in place.

Certainly, there are those who might become aggressive when in the dock. However, the current system condemns all to be tarred with the same brush and is a gross disservice to the supposed innocent before guilty stance of persons accused of any crime in the UK, which itself is something rather farcical. I mean, if someone is truly to be considered innocent before guilty, well how in God’s name anyone can be held in custody prior to conviction, most notably those without any previous convictions, simply escapes me.

That such security might be required in the courts is not doubted. But those who, or who for quantifiable reason, are considered likely to become aggressive should be sent to a courtroom that has the necessary security measures in place. Other, ordinary citizens should not be treated like rogues or even barbarians - for that is undeniably what is taking place.

If there are concerns that any individual might become unruly, then surely in the majority of magistrates’ courts security personnel could be present to prevent and deal with this.

What is perhaps of importance here is that magistrates, who are endowed with the authority to dispense justice according to the law, quite willingly attend and sit in such courts where these belittling docks exist.

Anyone with a view to this matter is asked to comment on this item either here on IndyMedia UK or on the author’s website at www.newsmedianews.com.

Keith Harris
- e-mail: newsmedia@o2.co.uk
- Homepage: http://www.newsmedianews.com

Comments

Hide the following 4 comments

you

19.12.2006 02:49

could have a trial by jury

once upon a time


intercom?

19.12.2006 09:55

disgusting that you can't take full part in proceedings because you cannot hear (or presumably be heard) clearly from the dock.
this could be remedied by a well designed intercom - one that doesn't make you sound like a long distance phone call from a submarine.


although the glass is probably there to cut costs (fewer guards) it's security effect cuts both ways - if you are having your committal hearing for something serious you may need protecting from the rouges in the public gallery

bobby


Defendants are not angels.

19.12.2006 20:45

Sorry but its true as my friend found out. He was a usher at a Magistrates court when a defendant tried to run from the dock. He tried to block the defendant from leaving and was bundled to the floor where the defendant bit him on the upper arm. He required surgery to repair his wound and never went back to work.
The defendant was convicted and received 6 years for GBH but my friend has never fully recovered from the incident. At the time he was 62 years old.
Dandini

dandini


4 dandini

19.12.2006 22:11

dandini get a life. dont try to justify the control methods used against us

johnny


Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech