With the closure of hundreds of courts, the problem of alternative venues is looming. Many of us will have enduring memories of hearings in town halls with the bench seated at distant tables on the stage, or in village halls where the heating from a belching stove frequently broke down.
Going back to such venues – at least for the foreseeable future – will put the clock back 40 years.
It has even been suggested that ‘notional courts’ could be set up at random with a suitable temporary backdrop. If so, why not during the summer months set up courts out in the precinct where justice can be seen to be done while onlookers sample a skinny latte?
It seems that we are steadily denuding the administration of justice with the dignity that it not only deserves but desperately needs in these trying times.
John Greenwood, chippenham, Wilts
