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| Court renovation rescues justice in the 21st century |
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Contact: Azadeh Khalilizadeh from FindLaw
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State Governments are becoming increasingly pre-occupied with giving their courthouses designer makeovers, in the face of development and higher demand. But creating courts to “deliver justice in the 21st century” does not come easily, or cheaply.
Historic dilemma faces Victoria’s upgrades
Victoria was one of the first states to announce the need to “go modern” in December last year, preparing their heritage-listed Supreme Court for a little nip and tuck.
“It is essential our pre-eminent court has state-of-the-art facilities to deliver justice in the 21st century”, said Victorian Attorney-General Rob Hulls.
Of course modernising an old court always has its hurdles, especially if it involves preserving the historically significance of the Victorian Supreme Court building and the old High Court.
“This courtroom was where our constitutional umpires made decisions on some of the most contentious political debates of the time, and it’s worth preserving,” Mr Hulls said.
In May 2006, Mr Hulls announced the project plan which he believes will “strike a balance” between heritage protection and delivering justice. According to Mr Hulls, the redevelopment will mean extending the old Supreme Court building, while retaining the front one-third of the old High Court next door, including the facade and Courtroom One.
“Heritage Victoria is examining the proposal to provide an independent expert assessment on how heritage issues should be addressed,” Mr Hulls said.
But the upgrade doesn’t come cheaply. According to Mr Hulls, the state’s government will fork out $32 million over two years to freshen up Victoria’s Supreme Court. And that is only part the first stage of its redevelopment.
This adds to a previous $43.8 million spent to tackle “major crime”, including increasing the number of judges and magistrates, as well as improved court security and technology.
Queensland competes for the designer look
As Victoria grapples with preserving a part of history, Queensland sets its sights on making history with a “designer” legal precinct.
In August 2006 Queensland Premier Peter Beattie and Attorney-General Linda Lavarch announced a “design competition” for the proposed Supreme and District Court complex, situated in the western end of Brisbane’s CBD.
Mr Beattie said designs would be sought from Australia’s leading architectural firms, in order to provide “the largest State court building in Australia”, with up to 50 courtrooms and hearing rooms.
Other design specifications for the new complex include:
Doubling the current floor space;
Larger jury rooms, a dedicated jury-assembly area and jury lifts in all courts;
Video links in all courtrooms;
Vulnerable witness suite; and
Wireless internet access for legal practitioners.
The reason for the upgrade, according to Ms Lavarch, is the existing 70s/80s building is “too small to meet future needs.”
And what better way to meet future needs of the self-professed “Smart State” than by linking the new complex by a pedestrian bridge to the soon-to-be-completed Queensland Gallery of Modern Art.
The State is putting aside a cool $6.3million for the planing and design of the courthouse complex, including preparation of detailed design briefs, the competition and development of the schematic scheme.
The competition is expected to take six months.
September, 2006
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