Editing Old Bailey

{{short description|Court in London and one of a number of buildings housing the Crown Court}}
{{distinguish|High Court of Justice|Royal Courts of Justice}}
{{other uses|Old Bailey (disambiguation)}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Infobox court
|court_name      = Central Criminal Court of England and Wales
|native_name     = Old Bailey
|image           = Oldbaileylondon-900.jpg
|imagesize       = 
|caption         = The Old Bailey in 2004
|jurisdiction    = [[England and Wales]]
|coordinates     = {{coord|51|30|57|N|0|6|6.5|W|type:landmark_scale:1000|display=title,inline}}
|location        = London {{postcode|EC|4}}
|chiefjudgetitle = [[Recorder of London]]
|chiefjudgename  = [[Mark Lucraft]]
|termstart       = 14 April 2020
}}

The '''Central Criminal Court of England and Wales''', commonly referred to as the '''Old Bailey''' after the street on which it stands, is a criminal [[court]] building in central London, one of several that house the [[Crown Court]] of [[England and Wales]]. The street outside follows the route of [[London Wall|the ancient wall]] around the [[City of London]], which was part of the fortification's [[Bailey (castle)|bailey]], hence the [[metonymic]] name.

The court has been housed in a succession of buildings on the street since the sixteenth century, when it was attached to the medieval [[Newgate Prison]]. The current main building block was completed in 1902, designed by [[Edward William Mountford]]; its monumental architecture is recognised and protected as a [[Grade II* listed building]].<ref>{{NHLE|desc=Central Criminal Court|num=1359218|access-date=18 October 2020}}</ref> An extension, South Block, was constructed in 1972, over the former site of Newgate Prison which had been demolished in 1904.

The Crown Court sitting in the Old Bailey hears major [[English criminal law|criminal cases]] from within [[Greater London]]. In exceptional cases, trials may be referred to the Old Bailey from other parts of England and Wales. As with most courts in England and Wales, trials at the Old Bailey are open to the public, although they are subject to stringent security procedures.

==History==
[[File:West View of Newgate by George Shepherd (1784-1862) (cropped).jpg|thumb|Newgate Prison in 1810. For much of its history, the "Old Baily" court (among other spellings seen) was attached to the gaol.]]
[[File:Microcosm of London Plate 058 - Old Bailey edited.jpg|thumb|An Old Bailey [[trial]], {{Circa|1808}}]]
[[File:William Penn & William Mead - plaque - 01.jpg|thumb|Plaque commemorating [[Bushel's Case]] of 1670]]
[[File:Justice statue on Central Criminal Court, London - 2022-09-10.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Lady Justice]] statue on the top of the court building]]
{{Annotated image
| image = 1830londonNN.png
| image-width = 2500
| image-left = -880
| image-top = -1520
| width = 140
| height = 180
| float = right
| annotations =
| caption = A small Sessions House at the time (in black at centre near red line), the court is shown in Christopher and John Greenwood's 8 inch-to-mile map published in 1827 from an 1830 republication.
}}
[[File:Southblockoldbailey.jpg|thumbnail|right|South Block extension]]

The court originated as the [[Quarter sessions|sessions house]] of the [[Lord Mayor of London|Lord Mayor]] and [[Sheriffs of the City of London]] and of [[Middlesex]]. In addition to sessions court, the Old Bailey also held trials, similar to the travelling [[Courts of Assize]] held in other parts of England and Wales.<ref>{{cite news |last=Petschek |first=Willa |title=The Best Way to See The Old Bailey Is To Commit Murder. But There Are Alternatives |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/07/04/archives/the-best-way-to-see-the-old-bailey-is-to-commit-murder-but-there.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=4 July 1971 |access-date=23 October 2020 |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US}}</ref> The original medieval court is first mentioned in 1585; it was next to the older [[Newgate Prison]], and seems to have grown out of the endowment to improve the gaol and rooms for the sheriffs, made possible by a gift from 15th-century Lord Mayor [[Richard Whittington]]. It was destroyed in the [[Great Fire of London]] in 1666 and rebuilt in 1674, with the court open to the weather to prevent the spread of disease.<ref>{{cite web |title=Old Bailey |url=https://www.e-architect.co.uk/london/old-bailey |publisher=E-Architect |date=22 June 2007 |access-date=18 October 2020}}</ref>

The building was re-fronted in 1734, so as to enclose the court and reduce the influence of spectators: this led to outbreaks of [[typhus]], notably in 1750 when 60 people died, including the Lord Mayor Sir [[Samuel Pennant]] and two judges, Sir [[Thomas Abney]] and [[Charles Clarke (judge)|Charles Clarke]].<ref>{{cite work|title=The life of John Heysham, M.D. and his correspondence with Mr. Joshua Milne relative to the Carlisle bills of mortality|page=61|date=1870|author=Lonsdale, Henry; Milne, Joshua|url=https://archive.org/details/lifeofjohnheysha00lonsrich/page/61/}}</ref> It was rebuilt again in 1774 and a second courtroom was added in 1824. Over 100,000 criminal trials were carried out at the Old Bailey between 1674 and 1834.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Gugliotta |first=Guy |date=April 2007 |title=Digitizing the Hanging Court |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/digitizing-the-hanging-court-150729037/ |magazine=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]] |access-date=12 September 2019}}</ref> In 1834, it was renamed from the Assize Court for London to the Central Criminal Court.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/criminal-court-cases-old-bailey-the-central-criminal-court/|title=Criminal court cases: Old Bailey (Central Criminal Court)|publisher=National Archives|access-date=18 November 2024}}</ref>

The court was envisaged as that where only criminals accused of crimes committed in the City and Middlesex were tried. However, in 1856, there was public revulsion at complaints sent to police against doctor [[William Palmer (murderer)|William Palmer]] that he was a poisoner and murderer. This led to fears that he could not receive a fair trial in his native [[Staffordshire]]. The [[Central Criminal Court Act 1856]] was passed to enable his trial, and others with a public profile, to be held at the Old Bailey.<ref name="knott">{{cite book |last=Knott |first=George H. |date=1912 |title=The Trial of William Palmer |series=Notable English Trials |url=https://archive.org/details/trialofwilliampa00palmiala |location=Edinburgh / London |publisher=William Hodge & Co |page=12 |quote=The trial marked an important step in English criminal procedure. In the ordinary course Palmer would have been tried by an Assize Court in Staffordshire, but the prejudice against him there was so strong that it was felt he would not have a fair trial. An Act was therefore passed, the 19 Vict. cap. 16, for enabling the trial to take place at the Central Criminal Court in London. Since then that Act has been available in any similar circumstances. |access-date=21 August 2018}}</ref> In London [[Cant (language)|cant]] it was called ''The Gate'', an abbreviation of Newgate.<ref>{{cite book|title=A London dictionary and guide book for 1879 |last= Dickens|first=Charles|url=https://archive.org/details/londondictionary0000dick_v3r5|year=1972|publisher=Howard Baker Press|isbn= 978-0-7030-0018-7}}</ref>

The Old Bailey adjoined Newgate Prison until the jail's 1902 closure. [[Public execution|Hangings were a public spectacle]] in the street outside until May 1868. The condemned would be led along Dead Man's Walk between the buildings, and many were buried in the walk itself. Large, rowdy crowds sometimes gathered and pelted the condemned with rotten fruit and vegetables and stones.<ref name="Sunday Times"/> Some sources claim that, after 28 people were crushed to death when a pie-seller's stall overturned, a tunnel was made between the prison and [[St Sepulchre-without-Newgate|St Sepulchre's church]] opposite the crossroads, to allow the chaplain to minister to the condemned without having to force his way through crowds;<ref name="Sunday Times"/> but there are no known primary sources or photographic evidence that indicate that it actually existed.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://londonist.com/2015/04/londons-rumoured-secret-tunnels |title=London's Rumoured Secret Tunnels |website=[[Londonist]] |date=April 2015 |first=Matt |last=Brown}}</ref>

The present building dates from 1902 and was officially opened by King [[Edward VII]] on 27 February 1907. It was designed by [[E. W. Mountford]] and co-occupies the site of the demolished prison. Above the main entrance is inscribed the admonition: "Defend the Children of the Poor & Punish the Wrongdoer".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.emporis.com/buildings/156142/central-criminal-court-london-united-kingdom|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201018195626/https://www.emporis.com/buildings/156142/central-criminal-court-london-united-kingdom|url-status=usurped|archive-date=18 October 2020|title=Central Criminal Court|publisher=Emporis|access-date=18 October 2020}}</ref>

On the dome above the court stands the court's symbolic gilt bronze statue of [[Lady Justice]] by sculptor [[F. W. Pomeroy]] (made 1905–1906).<ref>{{cite web |title=Justice – Frederick William Pomeroy |url=http://www.victorianweb.org/sculpture/pomeroy/25.html |website=Victorian Web |access-date=6 November 2019}}</ref> She holds a sword in her right hand and the scales of justice in her left. The statue is popularly supposed to show [[Blind justice (concept)|blind Justice]], but the figure is not blindfolded: the courthouse brochures explain that this is because Lady Justice was originally not blindfolded, and because her "maidenly form" is supposed to guarantee her impartiality which renders the blindfold redundant.<ref>{{cite book |last=Colomb |first=Gregory G. |title=Designs on Truth: The Poetics of the Augustan Mock-Epic |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=trgG0BAQ4xkC&pg=PA50 |location=University Park, PA |publisher=The Pennsylvania State University Press |year=1992 |page=50 |isbn=9780271039640 |oclc=463716684}}</ref>

During [[the Blitz]] of the Second World War, the Old Bailey was bombed and severely damaged, but reconstruction work restored most of it in the early 1950s. In 1952, the restored interior of the Grand or Great Hall of the Central Criminal Court was once again open. This hall (underneath the dome) is decorated with paintings commemorating the Blitz, as well as quasi-historical scenes of [[St Paul's Cathedral]] with nobles outside. Running around the entire hall are a series of axioms, some of biblical reference. They read:<ref>{{cite book |last=Daly |first=Mark |title=Unseen London |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BJq9CQAAQBAJ&pg=PT108 |publisher=Frances Lincoln |year=2014 |isbn=978-0711235519}}</ref>

{{poemquote|&quot;The law of the wise is a fountain of life"
"[[Salus populi suprema lex esto|The welfare of the people is supreme]]"
"Right lives by law and law subsists by power"
"Poise the cause in justice's equal scales"
"Moses gave unto the people the laws of God"
[[Magna_Carta#Clauses_in_detail|London shall have all its ancient rights]]&quot;}}

Between 1968 and 1972, a new South Block, designed by the architects [[Donald McMorran]] and George Whitby, was built to accommodate more modern courts.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://c20society.org.uk/building-of-the-month/central-criminal-court-extension-london|title=Central Criminal Court Extension, London|publisher=20th Century Society|access-date=18 October 2020}}</ref>

In 1973, the [[Provisional IRA Belfast Brigade|Belfast Brigade]] of the [[Provisional IRA]] [[1973 Old Bailey bombing|exploded a car bomb]] in the street outside, killing one and injuring 200 people. A shard of glass is preserved as a reminder, embedded in the wall at the top of the main stairs.<ref name="Sunday Times"/>

The hall (and its floor) was decorated with many busts and statues, chiefly of British monarchs, but also of legal figures, and those who achieved renown by campaigning for improvement in prison conditions from 1700 to 1900. This part of the building also housed the [[Stenography|stenographers']] offices until the stenographers were replaced by technology in March 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/for-the-record-stenographers-put-down-their-pens-at-the-old-bailey-7583250.html|title=For the record, stenographers put down their pens at the Old Bailey|date=23 March 2012|work=Evening Standard|location=London}}</ref> On 7 February 2024, around 1,500 people were forced to evacuate the building following a fire and reports of five separate explosions at the rear of the Central Criminal Court. Defendants on remand were returned to prison and juries were sent home.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-68225302|title=Old Bailey: Central Criminal Court in London evacuated after fire|website=BBC News |date=7 February 2024|access-date=7 February 2024}}</ref>

==Management== <!-- Secondary of the City of London redirects here -->
Until 2017, the court manager was known by the title of the ''Secondary of the City of London'', an ancient title of a City officer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.secret-london.co.uk/Charles_Henty.html |publisher=Secret London|title=The Secondary|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110703124558/http://www.secret-london.co.uk/Charles_Henty.html|access-date=18 October 2020|archive-date=3 July 2011}}</ref> [[His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service]] manages the courts and administers the trials but the building itself is owned by the [[City of London Corporation]], which finances the maintenance and running of the building and the staff costs out of their own resources.<ref name="Sunday Times">{{cite news |last=James |first=David |date=31 January 2010 |title=It's murder every day in the Old Bailey |url=http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article7005101.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611171639/http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article7005101.ece |archive-date=11 June 2011 |url-status=dead |work=[[The Sunday Times Magazine]] |location=London |access-date=7 February 2010 |pages=20–26}}</ref>

==Judges==
{{See also|Recorder of London}}
All judges sitting in the Old Bailey are [[Judge#United Kingdom|addressed]] as "[[Lord#Judiciary|My Lord]]" or "My Lady", whether they are [[High Court judge (England and Wales)|High Court]], [[Circuit judge (England and Wales)|circuit judge]]s or [[Recorder (judge)|recorders]]. The [[Lord Mayor of London|Lord Mayor]] and [[alderman|aldermen]] of the City of London are entitled to sit on the judges' bench during a hearing but do not participate in hearings. Where a ceremonial tradition is followed, a judge, sitting solo, will sit off-centre in case the Lord Mayor should decide to come in, in which case they would take the centre chair. The most senior ''permanent'' judge of the Central Criminal Court has the title of [[Recorder of London]], and their deputy has the title of [[Common Serjeant of London]]. The position of "Recorder of London" is distinct from that of a [[Recorder (judge)|recorder]], which is a part-time judicial office, holders of which sit part-time as judges of the Crown Court or County Court. The recent Recorders of London have been:

* 1975–1990 – Sir [[James Miskin]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-sir-james-miskin-1468603.html|title=Obituary: Sir James Miskin|work=The Independent|date=20 December 1993}}</ref>
* 1990–1998 – Sir [[Lawrence Verney]]
* 1998–2004 – [[Michael Hyam]]
* 2004–2013 – [[Peter Beaumont (judge)|Peter Beaumont]]
* 2013–2015 – [[Brian Barker]]
* 2015–2019 – [[Nicholas Hilliard (judge)|Nicholas Hilliard]]<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=61107|page=162|date=8 January 2015}}</ref>
* 2020–present – [[Mark Lucraft]]

== Civic role ==
[[File:Old Bailey entrance.JPG|thumb|Entrance to the original block of the Old Bailey, now only used for ceremonial purposes]]
The court house originated as part of the [[City of London]]'s borough judicial system, and it remains so. The Recorder and the Common Serjeant are city officers, and the Recorder is a member of the Common Council because he is also a member of the [[Court of Aldermen]]. The city's sheriffs and the Lord Mayor are justices there, but their jurisdiction is now nominal. The sheriffs are resident with the senior judges in the complex. Court 1 has benches set aside for the committee of [[City Bridge Foundation]], the owner of the building.<ref name=cbtabout>{{cite web | url = http://www.citybridgetrust.org.uk/CBT/ | title = City Bridge Trust – About Us | publisher = City Bridge Trust | access-date = 2011-08-24 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110927175523/http://www.citybridgetrust.org.uk/cbt/ | archive-date = 2011-09-27 }}</ref>

==In popular culture==
The Old Bailey has been mentioned and featured in numerous fictional works including film, video games and literature. Notable examples include ''[[V for Vendetta]]'' and its [[V for Vendetta (film)|film adaptation]], in which the [[V (character)|title character]] demolishes it to gain the public's attention,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Filming Locations for V For Vendetta (2005), in London and Berlin. |url=http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/v/V-For-Vendetta.php |access-date=2022-03-14 |website=The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations}}</ref> and ''[[Justice League (film)|Justice League]]'' and its [[Zack Snyder's Justice League|director's cut]], in which [[Diana Prince (DC Extended Universe)|Wonder Woman]] foils a terrorist bomb plot.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Filming Locations for DC Comics' Justice League (2017), in Iceland, the UK, Latvia, Greece, and Chicago. |url=http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/j/Justice-League-film-locations.php |access-date=2022-03-14 |website=The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations}}</ref> In [[Agatha Christie]]'s play, ''[[Witness for the Prosecution (play)|Witness for the Prosecution]]'', the murder trial of Leonard Vole is held at the Old Bailey.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Christie |first1=Agatha |title=Witness for the Prosecution |date=1953 |page=3 |url=https://archive.org/details/witnessforprosec0000chri_s2d6/page/n3/mode/2up?q=bailey}}</ref> It is also a central location in ''[[The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures]]'' and its sequel ''[[The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve]]'', where many of the trials in the games' plot take place.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures - Episode 4 Part 3 Guide|url=https://www.neoseeker.com/great-ace-attorney-chronicles/walkthrough/Episode_4_pt3 |access-date=2022-06-12 |website=NeoSeeker|date=19 August 2021 }}</ref> ''[[Rumpole of the Bailey]]'' is a British television series created and written by the British writer and barrister [[John Mortimer]], in which Horace Rumpole, an elderly London barrister, defends a broad variety of clients, often underdogs.<ref>{{cite news |title=Sir John Mortimer: QC who took on liberal causes but found most fame as the creator of the fictional barrister Rumpole |author=Daily Telegraph Obituaries |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/4269779/Sir-John-Mortimer-Writer-by-choice-lawyer-at-his-fathers-behest.html |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=16 January 2009 |access-date=6 September 2012}}</ref> In ''[[The Pirates of Penzance]]'', upon defeating the police, the pirates declare that "No pirate band will take its stand / At the Central Criminal Court."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.songlyrics.com/the-pirates-of-penzance/finale-lyrics/|title=The Pirates of Penzance|publisher=Song Lyrics|access-date=3 February 2023}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Central Criminal Court of England and Wales (The Old Bailey) The Grand Hall.jpg|The Grand Hall
File:Central Criminal Court of England and Wales (The Old Bailey) Ceiling.jpg|The Dome Ceiling
File:Central Criminal Court of England and Wales (The Old Bailey) Court No 1 The Dock.jpg|Looking at the dock in Court No 1
File:Central Criminal Court of England and Wales (The Old Bailey) Court No 1.jpg|Looking from the dock in Court No 1

</gallery>

==See also==
{{Portal|London|Law}}
* [[Bow Street Magistrates' Court]]
* [[City of Westminster Magistrates' Court]]
* [[Courts of England and Wales]]
* [[Royal Courts of Justice]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [[HM Courts Service]] – [http://xhibit.justice.gov.uk/centralcriminalcourt.htm current cases listed at this court]
* [https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/about-us/law-historic-governance/central-criminal-court Central Criminal Court] – City of London, includes visitor information
* [http://www.oldbaileyonline.org The Proceedings of the Old Bailey London 1674 to 1913] – Archive of case details
* [https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/in_pictures_the_old_bailey_at_100/html/1.stm Old Bailey photographs at 100 years old] – BBC
* [https://www.theguardian.com/uk_news/story/0,,2022019,00.html From Rumpole to the Ripper, Crippen to the Krays: The Old Bailey turns 100], [[Duncan Campbell (journalist, born 1944)|Duncan Campbell]], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 27 February 2007
* [https://maps.google.com/maps?q=old+bailey,+London&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&split=0&gl=us&ei=9vCmStuWA5SGNNnbnKYI&ll=51.515899,-0.10197&spn=0.0012,0.003484&t=h&z=19 View from Google Maps]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100805093420/http://blog.instituteartistmanagement.com/posts/2010/02/zed-nelson-sunday-times-mag.html Copy of Sunday Times article] including rare picture of Grand Hall
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012stwb Voices from the Old Bailey] – BBC Radio 4 dramatisations of 18th century cases

{{London landmarks}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Old Bailey| ]]
[[Category:Local government buildings in London]]
[[Category:Crown Court buildings]]
[[Category:Edwardian architecture in London]]
[[Category:Grade II* listed buildings in the City of London]]
[[Category:Grade II* listed government buildings]]
[[Category:Government buildings with domes]]
[[Category:Domes in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Court buildings in London]]
[[Category:1907 establishments in England]]