Buildings, Jurisprudence, Civil Procedure, Courts, Schools & Teaching, Education, Architecture, Law, Great Britain, Court house, Court design 

"Legal architecture addresses how the design of the courthouse and courtroom can be seen as a physical expression of our relationship with the ideals of justice. It provides an alternative history of the trial, which charts the troubled history of notions of due process and participation. In contrast to the visions of judicial space as neutral, Linda Mulcahy argues that understanding the factors that determine the architecture of the courthouse and courtroom are crucial to a broader understanding of the trial. The partitioning of the courtroom into zones and the restriction of movement within it are the result of turf wars about who can legitimately participate in the legal arena and call the judiciary to account. The gradual containment of the public, the increasing amount of space allocated to the advocates, and the creation of dedicated space for journalists and the jury, all have complex histories that deserve more attention than they have been given. But these issues are not only of historical significance. Across jurisdictions, questions are now being asked about the internal configurations of the courthouse and courtroom, and whether standard designs meet the needs of participatory democracies. The presence and design of the modern dock; the dematerialization of the courtroom by increasing use of new technologies; and the extent to which courthouses can be described as public spaces are all being hotly debated"--Provided by publisher. 

Contents:
Architects of justice -- An ideal type? Visions of the courthouse over time -- Segmentation and segregation -- Presumed innocent -- Open justice, the dirty public and the press -- The heyday of court design? -- Back to the future : is there such a thing as a just court? -- The dematerialization of the courthouse. 

Includes bibliographical references (183) and index.
Donated by Graham Price.