Day 23: CSI: LONDON

(A post about...duh duh duh...murder)

My International Law class took an old-fashioned field trip down to the Old Bailey, arguably the most famous criminal court in the world.*

(Top) Lady Justice atop the Old Bailey (Bottom) Dudes in wigs.

The Old Bailey is an imposing building, and a statue of Lady Justice sits atop the roof. But any sense of awe or uneasiness is immediately lost as soon as you walk into the courtroom and notice the judges and barristers wear wigs.

Also, there’s like 80 barristers in the courtroom.* The number of lawyers on-hand and those fancy hairpieces adorning both the men and woman judges and barristers were the two features that stood out the most when comparing these courts to America.* Other than that it was just traditional roasting of a witness. By one of the most well-known lawyers in England—Jonathan Sumption.* Yes—the Jonathan Sumption.

Oh and the case itself was pretty exciting. It was about—dare I say—murder. Well, alleged murder. To be honest, it’s a pretty weak case too. A mother (and her boyfriend and his brother) are all accused of contributing to the death of the mother’s 17-month old boy. But the way the evidence goes, it sounds like at the worst the mother was negligent, not a killer. The rest of the details can be found here.

These free public viewing galleries are open every day of the work week. If you have a thing for law or fake hair I recommend checking it out.

THE OLD BAILEY

Price: Free (Must be older than 14)

Hours: 10 am – 1pm / 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Mon.-Fri.

Location: St. Paul tube stop

Stupid fact: No cell phones allowed. I only bring this up because I had to pay a pound to have my cell phone stored at a deli across the street.

Foot notes

*Any criminal court experts out there want to argue with that?

*I might be off by about 70.

*Also instead of “Your Honor,” judges are referred to as “My Lord” or “My Lady” or “My Dawg.” Actually one of those is false.

*He even has his own Wikipedia page! The first step in determining if somebody is famous: Can you wiki them?