NEW CITY COURT BUILDING

Southland Times, Issue 24497, 26 July 1941, Page 8

NEW CITY COURT BUILDING

FINISH of WORK IN SIGHT NOVEL AND MODERN FEATURES The new courthouse in Don street will probably be out of the builders’ hands in two or three months time. This is the opinion of Mr H. Wilson, of the firm of Wilson Bros., the contractors for the building. War conditions have caused delay because of the difficulty of getting certain essential materials and fittings. However, the end is now in sight and the building, which has been finished externally for u considerable time, is now rapidly taking shape inside as well.

Invercargill has had a long time to wait for its new court. The foundation stone was laid on May 31, 1938—over three years ago. However, it can be said that it is worth waiting for. When it is finished there will not be a more up-to-date or better courthouse in New Zealand. , . , , In the Supreme Court the judges bench, clerk’s table, witness boxes, jury box and Press table are all finished in red pine panelling which gives the interior an attractive appearance.. The dock is -similarly finished and is of better appearance than the plain wooden docks that are to be found in older courthouses. ENTRANCE TO DOCK An interesting feature, though it is not entirely new to New Zealand courts, is the ■ fact that the prisoner enters the dock from below. A narrow staircase leads from the basement to the back of the dock. The 'ock has a doorway. It might be called the doorway of freedom, for it is presumed that the prisoner will leave the dock by it if he is acquitted. Otherwise he will return by the way he entered. Though thL method of entering the dock from below is comparatively new in this country, it is really not very modern idea. Prisoners at the Centre Criminal Court, London, popularly known as the Old Bailey, also enter the dock from below. The dock in the Supreme Court is placed in the usual position in the centre of the room. In the Magistrate’s Court, however, it is to one side, and the prisoner can enter it without passing through the courtroom. The dock is close by a door at the back of the courtroom. This door leads on to a passage provide 1 with a bench for the accommodation of arrested persons waiting to appear before the Magistrate. From this passage a stairway leads to a large room in the basement. This is known as a “holding room,” and can be used for prisoners who have to appear in either court. A passage leads from this room to a strongly constructed cell and halfway along this passage a narrower passage branches off to the stair leading to the Supreme Court dock. A stairway outside the cell in the basement leads to two smaller cells which are on ground level. COMFORT FOR JURYMEN Another unusual feature in the Supreme Court is that there are two witness boxes, one on either side of the clerk’s table, which is, of course, placed immediately below the bench. The jury box is on one side of the room and the Press table on the other. At one end of the Press table there is a special seat for the court usher. The jurymen ought to be comfortable in the new court. The seats in. the jury box will be well upholstered a'nd in addition arm rests will be provided. The whole building will be heated by steam and hot air. The temperature in the court rooms can be regulated by means of an ingenious contrivance which ensures that the heating is cut off when any desired temperature is reached. The furnace and boiler, fans and other machinery for forcing the hot air through the pipes are housed in the basement. Here, too, everything is automatically controlled. One of the main jobs in progress at present is the laying of a special rubber material on the floors of the two courts and the nearby passages. This will ensure quietness. The laying of this covering is a job demanding skill and patience, no matter how easy it may look, and it is expected that it will be some time yet before the work is finished.