Brisbane Courts: Planning & Environmental Court Observation

INTRODUCTION

Between August 20th and 23rd I observed six hours of legal procedure in Planning and Environmental Court in the Supreme and District Courts of Brisbane. Over the course of the three days I observed the court, I witnessed a range of reviews as well as two different hearings held by two different judges. Many similarities and a spattering of differences became evident especially in relation to human experience which I will focus my report on in this report along with the heavy theme of symbolism and the many ways that affects the human experience.

Exterior of the building

Upon approach of the Queen Elizabeth II Courts of Law, the building seem to tower over its immediate surrounds, although there are many tall buildings close by, including Brisbane's second tallest skyscraper the infinity tower, standing at 249m in nearby herschel street ('Herschel Street, Brisbane Brisbane's Joint Tallest Building', n.d.). The impressive nature of the building gives it a sense of authority, a sense of power, showing just how important happenings in the building are. There is little question to what the large, glass building is for with large signage and an impressive stature of Lady Justice, common at most courthouses and legal institutions around the world for her symbolism as a personification of the moral force in judicial systems (Edwards,2018).

Save your time!
We can take care of your essay

• Proper editing and formatting
• Free revision, title page, and bibliography
• Flexible prices and money-back guarantee

Place an order

Entry and waiting areas

Immediately through the entrance of the building, you are faced with a security clearance, including bag scans, a metal detector and multiple security personnel. This creates an impressive threshold between the building and the outside world, one that you can’t miss.

Instantly upon arrival, wayfinding through the building is very easy, there is only one entrance which flows through to the main lobby of the building, there is an obvious and large lift well in plain sight, as well as bathrooms, and an information desk for those requiring assistance.

Once one is on the levels of the courts, straight away there is a map showing the floorplan of the level, giving clarity of where to go, to increase this clarity, there are also discrete signs and oversized courtroom numbers by every courtroom entrance.

There are many seats around the large common area of the level, providing ample space and privacy for people to wait. Whilst I was visiting, this area was often changing, from completely empty to groups of people gathering in the centre, talking loudly about cases, people waiting silently in the seating provided nearby the courtrooms, to a couple of lawyers talking towards the sides of the spaces quietly.

Although the courts are designed in a way where all of the courtrooms line the exterior of the building, there are still multiple floor ceiling windows in the waiting and circulation areas of the court building, giving lots of light and impressive views of nearby Roma Street Parklands, the courtyard in front of the entrance of the building, and the buildings of the city. .

Court Rooms

The courtrooms which I witnessed in observation, were almost identical, with many of the same elements one expects from a courtroom from exposure from tv and movies which show courtrooms all over the world.

The decor of the courtroom was almost clinical in nature, with hard lines and minimal colour or soft touches. This being said, the rooms were still very light due to a full wall of windows behind the judge's podium. There was minimal distractions within the courtrooms, with obstructed views of the city beyond the building, and a completely soundproof room, all attention was directed within the room. There was no art on any of the walls or decoration of any kind, except for the coat of arms behind the judge.

Judges

Both Judge Kefford and Judge Williamson held great power over the room. The courtroom atmosphere instantly shift as soon as the judges walk in, everyone stands to attention, and sits once court is in session, talk amongst the room (in most cases) came to a halt and respect was shown for the man or woman in charge of the room. Judge Williamson did not speak an awful lot during my time in court, but he did stop questioning at times for more clarity on certain statements made by expert witnesses and paused questionings for a break mid sentence. Judge Keffords hearing on the 23rd of August was an interesting one to witness. The lawyer started the morning off by trying to remove the judge from the case, which instantly put judge Kefford in a less happy mood, this may or may have changed the tone of the rest of the hearing as Judge Kefford became very argumentative with that Lawyer as he tried to get an appeal. That being said, the reasons that the lawyer was providing did not seem to be the most solid of reasons, it seemed as though by this stage of the hearing, process the lawyer was trying to pull a last ditch effort which was failing and the Judge was not impressed.

Barristers and lawyers

During my observations it became apparent that many of the barristers and lawyers were friends or in the least aqquantances through years of working together. Although everything was dealt with very professionally in hearings, with little chatter between opposing sides, before and during reviews there was a lot of chatting. It was difficult to analyse the constantly changing emotions of the various lawyers, there were lots of attitude changed amongst the lawyers as hearing progressed, from relaxed and easygoing before hearings, a few became much more argumentative and almost angry once hearings began. There were also lots of moments where lawyers became flustered when new things were brought into cases or when things weren’t going the way they wanted.

Expert Witnesses

Expert witnesses held a very important role in the Wilhelm -v- Logan City Council hearings, this was emphasized by the positioning of the witness stand, along the right wall, between the judge and the lawyers as can be seen in the diagram below. Cross examination provided everyone with solid information regarding the service station itself, its surrounds and other similar cases. People of various professions were called for questioning including, engineers, lighting practitioner, landscape architects and town planners. All of the witnesses were given short and easy questions at the beginning of the cross examination. The cross examination itself included lots of repetitive questions which all of the witnesses seemed to be irritated by. Most of the expert witnesses seems to be in favour for the service station, for the exception of the town planner from the 23rd of August who seemed completely impartial. [image: ]

Laymen

In Wilhelm -V- Logan City Council, on the 20th of August, due to the other co-defendants not being in this session of the court hearing, the layman, Mr Wilhelm, had to do cross examining. He seemed very put out as he was most definitely the odd one out in the courtroom as the only lay person speaking out. He stammered, a nervously flipped through his notes, asked the same questions in different ways and didn’t always seem to understand the responses from the expert witnesses. The whole situation seemed to really affect him and it definitely made the questioning take longer.

Differences between reviews and hearings

Comparing Judge Keffords hearings and reviews, The atmosphere, interactions and behaviour in the court differed dramatically. The early morning hearings seemed as though they were a warm up to everyones day, a routine which meant little more than tying up loose ends. There was lots of chatter between lawyers and barristers, the judge started late both mornings I attended and there was a noticeable lack of formality amongst everyone in the court. Reviews were short and to the point, very loud and informal gatherings and Judge Kefford was wearing normal business clothes. This all changed greatly once hearing started, Jude Kefford donned her robes, as did the lawyers. The courtroom became much less crowded and the chatter died down greatly as everyone was paying a lot of attention to the hearing.

ANALYSIS

Upon observing hearings, reviews, the court building itself and human interaction within the courts themselves showed heavy themes within the court. Class structure and power dynamics are shown through the use of symbolism within the courtroom, in turn affecting the human experience.

Paul Katsieris, a renowned Australian architect Victorian Design Review Panel stated, “A society looks to a law court, as well as other public buildings to personify the community’s state of being with respect to matters of justice. The institution is expected to uphold the law, to demonstrate a certain purity and to manifest a symbolic weight.” (Katsieris, 2011).

The symbolic representations in Australian courts can be traced back to medieval english law, which defined the foundation of the australian legal system (McDougal, 2016). Courthouses have always been designed in a way to show a superior position over the rest of the population, broadcasting the prestigious status of authority law holds in society.

Immediately after entering the building, one is reminded of the importance of the building by walking through security. Although the security is due to much needed court security, installed after courtroom crimes rattled the country in the late 700’s and early 80’s, it does remind layman and law professionals alike that they are entering an important building (McDougal, 2016).

The Supreme and district court building has emphasised openness and transparency, both in design and reflecting the principle of open justice by having floor to ceiling glass walls in every courtroom and throughout the foyers of each level (McDougall, 2016).

Within the courtroom, there are also symbolic queues. The internal layout of Australian courtrooms have not changed dramatically over the course of the years and still holds many of the symbolic elements the english courts had (Richardson, 2007). The courtroom has always been designed in a way to symbolise the sombre and formal nature of the law (Richardson, 2007).

Symbolism in the courtroom environment has been proven to negatively impact on people less familiar with the legal system (Richardson, 2007). Impacts on the ability to concentrate on as well as comprehension of the court process and evidence being heard show that laypersons can be very affected by the atmosphere (Richardson, 2007). This reaction was evident when Mr Wilhelm was left to question expert witnesses, he was obviously on edge, nervous and out of his depth, being surrounded by powerful people who were trained and had more experience in like matters.

The prestige which has maintained to be the theme within the law is also present within those who practice the law, as is the clear hierarchy within the law field and over laymen. There are two main was the courtroom itself uses symbolism to segregate the courtroom occupants, dress and location.

Starting first and foremost with the symbols relating to judges (Richardson, 2007). The judge is positioned at the front of the courtroom, on a raised platform in front of a coat of arms (Richardson, 2007). By sitting in this impressive spot, the judge is being represented as an embodiment of the monarch, the ruler of the room (Richardson, 2007). By symbolically placing the judge simultaneously both closer to the monarch, and further away from the rest of the courtroom, the judges role is given further respect as impartial moderator (Richardson, 2007).

Sitting in the middle of the room, sit respondent and defendants. Sitting further back in the room, with an uninterrupted view of the judge, on the same level as the rest of the court, the close relationship is shown at the same time as the hierarchy (Richardson, 2007).

Towards the back of the court, sit the public viewing, as well as the seats for extra lawyers who are assisting or taking notes on cases, and witnesses who aren’t sitting at the witness table, at the back, close to the door and less visible to the judge, highlights the lack of importance in the cases.

Robes and wigs (however less common in planning and environment court from what I have witnessed) further remove legal practitioners from the general public. The judges which I observed in court did not wear their wigs, however they both wore robes during hearings. It was a similar case for the barristers in my time in court, robes and wigs were not worn in the more casual reviews and were left in the trolleys they brought into the courts full of paperwork for their next cases, but once again worn for the hearings. These behavioural patterns support the notion that many judges and barristers see their formal dress as an indication of their significance, privilege, influence, responsibility and need for respect from laypersons (Richardson, 2007).

Throughout the heavy symbolism scattered everywhere in the court process and building,architectural psychology techniques have been used in the design of the Queen Elizabeth II Courts of Law, to make the courts the most comfortable they can be for the various people using them. Court procedures often heightened emotions, be it, grief, anger, fear, hope, anxiety, revenge or the like, this is why a calm and ordered environment is required in a court setting.

As was previously outlined in observation, wayfinding in the Courthouse are very straightforward with many signs, maps and open sight lines. This in turn reduces the stress of the layman (Government of Western Australia Department of Justice, 2017). There are also large windows with views of nature and familiar landscapes and access to fresh air, which also reduces stress, and has a positive influence on the demeanour of participants of the court (Government of Western Australia Department of Justice, 2017)

There is a balancing act between trying to create a relaxed atmosphere and showing power, a balancing act which seems to tip towards showing power as soon as court activities start. Although there have been obvious efforts within the design of the building to provide a comfortable court experience for laypersons, the heavy symbolism in all parts and elements of the court have a significant impact, one that, at times, overpowers the soothing elements of the design.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, although there are many elements within the design of the Queen Elizabeth II Courts specifically in place to have a positive psychological effect, people are affected by symbolism as soon as they walk into court buildings around the world, just like they are once walking through security of the Supreme and District Courts of Brisbane and even more so once in the individual court rooms. This is something that is something which has been going on for as long as courthouses have been around and is a fundamental within the design of courts, even new courthouses like the Brisbane Supreme and District Court.

REFERENCES

1. McDougall, Robert. (2016). Designing the Courtroom of the Future, paper delivered at the International Conference on Court Excellence, Singapore.
2. Richardson, Christine Rosalie. (2007). Symbolism in the Courtroom: An Examination of the Influence of Non-verbal Cues in a District court Setting on Juror Ability to focus on the Evidence (Thesis, PhD Doctorate). School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia.
3. Government of Western Australia Department of Justice (2017). Design Brief for Courthouses in Western Australian.
4. Yang, W., Jin, S., He, S., Fan, Q., & Zhu, Y. (2015). The impact of power on humanity: self-dehumanization in powerlessness. PloS one, 10(5), e0125721. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0125721
5. Queen Elizabeth II Courts of Law. (2013). [Pdf]. Retrieved from https://www.architectus.com.au/sites/default/files/ba-pub-bscdc.pdf
6. Brisbane Supreme and District Courts. (2012). [Ebook]. Retrieved from https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57bba320e4fcb5cba1e11900/t/590f09281e5b6c8e16ef114b/1494157673271/01674+Brisbane+Supreme+Court.pdf
7. State of Queensland. (2018). Planning and Environment Court Rules 2018.
8. Edwards, B. (2018). Symbolism of Lady Justice. Retrieved 20 August 2019, from https://www.theclassroom.com/symbolism-of-lady-justice-12080961.html
9. Herschel Street, Brisbane Brisbane's Joint Tallest Building. Retrieved 25 August 2019, from https://www.meritonsuites.com.au/our-hotels/qld/brisbane/herschel-street/
10. Paul Katsieris, ‘Representations of Justice: A photographic Essay in Two Parts (Part Two)’ (1991).