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you are here: > Asia Union Judicial Code
>Article 22
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4. Justice and
operation of courts
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| Article 22-Design and Structure of Courtroom | ||
| 22.1 | Design and Structure of Courtroom | |
| The courtroom is the actual enclosed space in which a judge or judges hold court. | ||
| 22.2 | Courtroom design | |
| The following design and structural rules shall be the basis of both architecture and form for all permanent courtrooms. Deviation from these design and strutural rules shall not be permitted unless passed by a constitutional amendment, including with it a rejection of the principles of visual authority upon which these design rules are conceived. | ||
| The Bench | ||
| The judge shall always sits behind an enclosed raised desk known as the bench, behind which the judge sits. The bench shall be not less than three metres high from the floor of the courtroom and not more than five metres high. The bench shall always be positioned at the centre of the wall opposite to the main public entrance to the court. Enclosed steps allowing the judge to step up to their seat and down from their seat should be positioned at both sides of the bench. In normal court procedure, the Judge shall arrive to the bench from the left and leave the bench to the right. | ||
| In front of the judge build into the bench shall be sufficient video monitors to provide immediate display of information, depositions and evidence before the court, including a keyboard and mouse to search the case records. | ||
| The Great Seal of Jurisdiction | ||
| Behind the judge and above the bench against the wall shall be placed the great Seal of jurisdiction of the coutt and the flags of the appropriate nation and regional state if a state supreme court, or local region if a local court. | ||
| The five doors of justice | ||
| There shall be not less than five doors into an out of the courtroom. | ||
| Behind the bench and on either side shall be the two great doors of justice through which the Judge enters and exits the courtroom to their chambers directly behind the courtroom. | ||
| At the opposite end of the court room shall be the public doors through which all members of the public, all public prosecutorial staff, defense counsel, witnesses and accused that are not remanded in custody shall enter. | ||
| To the right of the public entrance shall be the door through which all remanded prisoners shall be brought and taken. | ||
| To the left of the public entrance shall be the door through which the jury shall enter and leave their seats. | ||
| While such pragmatic constraints such as cost and existing design of buildings may make such considerations prohibitive, in all cases where new buildings or re-fit of buildings for court are considered, this must be the essential design. | ||
| The bar | ||
| The courtroom shall be divided into two parts by a waist-high barrier known as the bar. The divided part closest to the Bench shall be the court proper, while the divided part closest to the public entrance shall be the public gallery in which seating shall be arranged for visitors and interested parties. Only persons that have business with the court may pass through the bar to the court proper. | ||
| The jury box | ||
| To the left of the courtroom, facing towards the bench shall be a raised set of enclosed seats known as the jury box in which all members of a jury may sit in jurisdictions and matters that allow for jury trials. The jury box shall be no lower than one metre and no higher than two metres. Behind the jury box shall be the door to the jury room through which the jury shall enter and exit. | ||
| The dock | ||
| Directly opposite the jury box and to the right of the courtroom facing towards the bench, shall be a raised enclosed small sets of seats known as the dock in which all accused in criminal trials shall sit, except when commanded to briefly stand during the course of court proceedings. The dock shall be no lower than one metre and no higher than two metres from the ground and enclosed by a railing which does not conceal the body of the accused. Behind the dock shall be an entrance through which accused which are currently remanded shall be taken and placed and through which all prisoners remanded for sentence or awaiting sentence involving imprisonment shall be taken. | ||
| In normal courts, the dock shall be open. This shall be known as an open dock. However, in special courts where an beligerent accused offender may be brought who displays no respect to court proceedings, and/or in cases where the accused is regarded as especially dangerous, the dock may be enclosed by highly secure glass and reinforcement which may isolate the rest of the court from any outbursts from the accused and any danger from them. This shall be known as a closed dock. | ||
| The witness stand | ||
| To the right and directly in front of the bench (when facing the public gallery) shall be the witness stand in which a seated witness recounts any testimony. The witness stand shall be no less than half a metre from the ground and no higher than one metre. It shall be viewable by all members of the jury, by the bench and by the dock. | ||
| The clerk box | ||
| To the left and directly in front of the bench (when facing the public gallery) shall be the clerk's box in which the official court recording staff and the clerk of the court shall sit. The clerk box shall not be raised in any way. | ||
| The table of the prosecuting counsel | ||
| The table of the prosecuting counsel shall be to the right of the bench (when facing the public gallery) at which the plaintiff (in civil trials) or the prosecutor (in criminal trials) shall sit. | ||
| Built into the table shall be sufficient video monitors to provide immediate display of information, depositions and evidence before the court, including a keyboard and mouse to search the case records. | ||
| The table of the defense counsel | ||
| The table of the prosecuting counsel shall be to the left of the bench (when facing the public gallery) at which the defendant and defense counsel (in civil trials) or the defense counsel only (in criminal trials) shall sit. | ||
| Built into the table shall be sufficient video monitors to provide immediate display of information, depositions and evidence before the court, including a keyboard and mouse to search the case records. | ||
| The podium | ||
| Between both counsel tables and directly in front of the bench shall be the podium from which either the defense or the plaintiff/prosecution counsel address the court. | ||
| Built into the podium shall be sufficient controls and monitor to control the display of all information on the large display panels on the back wall behind the witness stand. | ||
| The large information display panels | ||
| On the wall behind the witness stand shall be sufficiently large information display panels able to be seen by the jury, the dock, the public and all legal representatives. | ||
| The purpose of the large information display panels shall be to display evidence to the court that has been transfered into an electronic form. | ||
| The evidence table | ||
| Between the podium and the bench shall be the evidence table onto which any physical evidence for the court shall be brought. | ||
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