Corona Daily 314: The Nightingale Court

The Lowry, named after an English artist, is an impressive theatre and gallery complex in Salford, Greater Manchester. Its two drama theatres with a total capacity of more than 2000 seats have been completely shut since March.

Today, for the first time, the Lowry theatre will reopen. From its wings, a judge will appear all dressed up exactly as the English judges should be. He will occupy a throne below a huge coat of arms suspended in the air. The judge will be given his own dressing room on a lower floor. Jurors will sit not on the stage, but in the auditorium. The best seats in the auditorium are reserved for them; each juror is allocated an entire box designed for six people.

The sound booth at the back is removed – the defendant will sit there. He will be clearly visible to the judge and the jury; there will not be a bullet-proof dock.

Airport-like scanners are placed at the theatre entrance. The judge, jurors, the defendant and anyone else wanting to attend will walk through these scanners.

The theatre lighting will be very sober and unchanging. No spotlights will be used for either the prosecutor or the defending counsel.

Julia Fawcell, the Theatre’s CEO explained it by saying: “Coming to court is a serious business. It is very important that there is dignity and accountability.”

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Like theatres, England’s courts too had shut down in March as well. By 23 August, England’s crown court gathered a backlog of 46,467 cases, and the magistrates’ court had 517,782 pending cases. The backlog situation was severe before the pandemic, now it threatened to become catastrophic. Criminal courts wanted to use digital hearings. This was condemned as violating the fundamental principle of open justice which requires hearings in the presence of public. The justice secretary proposed reducing the number of juries to 7 (instead of the twelve angry men) or abandoning jury trials. These ideas were rejected. Defendants can be held in custody for six months. With trials stopped, that period was over for many. Judges were reluctant to extend their stay, particularly with the virus roaming about in the prisons.

With the passage of time, reliability of witnesses’ memory becomes an issue. Also the stress for victims, witnesses, and the defendants assumes a chronic form.

Finally, the justice secretary announced the concept of the Nightingale Courts. Temporary courts to handle the backlog of cases. In July 2020, ten such courts began working. More staff was recruited, and technology rolled out. The Nightingale courts handle all non-custodial crime, civil, family and tribunal cases.

Today, courts will start conducting trials in the Lowry theatre, Hilton hotel York and Jury’s Inn in Middleborough. (The hotel name Jury’s Inn is a mere coincidence). The Lowry has offered three courtrooms, all holding daytime trials from Monday to Friday. The ministry of justice will pay an undisclosed amount to the Lowry and other venues. It is a crucial lifeline for the theatre which has lost £20 million in revenue this year.

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‘Slow justice is no justice’ or ‘justice delayed is justice denied’ are well-known clichés. Yet, in countries like the UK or India, the judiciary has been excessively conservative. Documents must be printed, notarized, and hand-delivered. The number of courts and trial rooms are horribly behind the population growth.  Countries still using a jury have a lengthy process to select them.

Fortunately, the pandemic is now forcing the judiciary to shed its outmoded ways. Virtual trials have started. And the UK has set an example with the Nightingale Courts that other countries must take note of.

Ravi