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"In a joint statement, Lord Thomas and Sir Jeremy Sullivan said the investment ‘will uphold this most fundamental function of the state and maintain the international reputation of our justice system’."

This statement is laughable in the context of what the Justice Minister is now doing to our justice system.

Our international reputation for justice is on the verge of being shattered, both by the criminal legal aid farce and the reduction of the judicial review remedies available for the ordinary citizen. This is quite apart from secret hearings and the gradual dumbing down of Powers of Attorney.

So with TV cameras increasingly intruding into justice, and defendants being stripped of proper access to justice, will such buildings become mere forums for the mundane, where guilty pleas are processed for the public's entertainment on an industrial scale?

"Magna Carta" Grayling is a disgrace, and in the light of the oaths made by him before taking office he has brought shame to the historically important office of Lord Chancellor.