A new supreme court could dilute the House of Lords' brand and would involve considerable expense at a time when the court system is already under-resourced, the Lord Chief Justice Lord Woolf said this week.

At a public discussion with Professor Richard Susskind, held at Gresham College in London, Lord Woolf said: 'The House of Lords has huge prestige because of the quality of its judgments over the years.

I wonder whether it is a good idea to lose the brand.'

The Lord Chief Justice said he would prefer the court to keep its permanent home in the House of Lords - but if it were to relocate, the supreme court should not be used until it was in its new premises.

He expressed his concern that if the supreme court begins work with the judges 'squatting' in the House of Lords, they would lose their leverage to ensure the new building was worthy of the court's status.

'It must be properly resourced and have proper accommodation,' he emphasised, adding: 'I know how tight resources are at the present time.

If you can't have resources for some matters which are critical for the courts, I wonder whether this is the right time for a supreme court.'

On other issues, Lord Woolf said he remained concerned about prison overcrowding and leant support to restorative justice and community sentencing.

He said: 'Sometimes, seeing how a real person has been affected [by a crime] can make a real difference to the offender...

There are real punishments that do not involve youngsters lying on their beds doing nothing for 20 hours a day.

Prison is the easy solution, the popular solution, but it is not always the best.'

Rachel Rothwell