Courtroom Layout

I've seen a few different layouts so I'm not sure what you mean.

A lot of it has to do with the budget for courtroom-building.

The bar separates spectators from participants. That's pretty universal, isn't it, Jespah?

sorry should have been more specific....

i mean in regards to where the jury and the judge sit... often (certainly over here) they are on a raised area (ie higher than the floor) and i just wondered if there was a symbolic reason for this - or just so they've got a good view??

I would imagine that different countries have different regulations - or not - about this.

The reason the jury and judge's positions are elevated has to do with the Socio-Psychological effect of putting someone in an elevated position (hence the term "put upon a pedestal"). It is commonly discussed in courses on group dymanics.

It's the same reason a church pulpit is usually raised, the Predisent of the company gets the big comfy chair at the end of the conference table, etc..

In the court room the judge and jury are in the positions of authority. They are literally "looking down on" the accused and passing judgement. By elevating their seating above others it puts them in a position of status.

Exactly for that reason we don't have such :wink:

thanks fishin'..... i kinda figured it was something like that but just wanted to see if it was anything different

I think it's a combination of the practical and the symbolic. The judge occupies a higher position because he has to be able to see the entire courtroom and everybody has to be able to see him. But the judge's heightened position also imparts a sense of importance and prestige to him. As for the jurors, those seated in the back row have to see over the heads of those in the front row (in American courts, the jury's importance is acknowledged when the judge stands in deference to the jurors entering and exiting the courtroom).

Hmm now that I think about it, I think all of the courtrooms I've been in had elevated spots for the judge and jury. After that, there's some play, often a swinging gate-like half door (or sometimes more like a quarter-door, or sometimes no door) separating the spectators from the actual, er, actors; sometimes the court reporter near the witness stand, sometimes closer to the middle of the judge's seat, in front of him/her; jury on left or right, that sort of thing.

the courts ive been in have a lovely sheet of plastic separating the accused (and the rest of them in the front) from the public.... violent bunch these aussies!!! hehehehe

Beware the plastic sheeting!

The courts in Queens (NY) were a mixed bag. The courthouse in Jamaica was built some time when there had been massive budget money and it was very neoclassical and all that. One room in particular had high ceilings and lots of spectator space and was probably used for anything the press would get wind of. In contrast, the court in Kew Gardens (keep in mind, though, that Jamaica was a Supreme Court where as Kew was a Civil Court and therefore lower in status) may have been an old school and the rooms were tiny and not well-appointed at all.

Not the mention the 7th floor courtroom in Jamaica, but the elevator only went to the 6th floor. The 7th floor had originally been the janitor's apartments and had been converted to a courtroom. One day, I was appearing in that room, and the judge asked me where my adversary was. "Uh, Your Honor, Mr. ____ isn't here because he can't get to the courtroom." "Whaddaya mean, he can't get to the courtroom!" "Your Honor, Mr.___ is in a wheelchair." So we all (even the judge, court reporter, everyone) went down a flight of stairs and held the hearing in a hallway. Yes, it was a major government building, and in 1989 it was not fully handicapped-accessible.