Supreme Court

                Today we toured the British Supreme Court. The strange thing about the Supreme Court is that it was not established until 2005 and did not start until 2009. This is extremely new compared to everything else in England and interesting in the sense that it was based off of the American Supreme Court. There were three courtrooms in the building. All three had the same basic setup which was a table with 5 chairs for the justices. There was a table behind that for the justice’s assistants. In front of the Justice’s table was table for the main lawyers on each side. The next table back was for any other lawyers on the case or for the people being represented. In the back there were three benches for the public to come and go as they pleased. The emblem for the Supreme Court is everywhere, from the carpet to the curtains. It consists of a rose for England, a purple thistle for Scotland, a blue flax flower for Northern Ireland, and green leek leaves for Wales. There was a case going on in the upstairs courtroom so we were able to watch that for a little bit. Just like in the Magistrate’s Court, the judges seemed much more degrading towards people than they are in America.

                The other cool part about visiting the Supreme Court was that it is next to Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament, also known to tourists as Big Ben. This was pretty awesome to see as well as all of the old buildings we have been seeing. We tour houses of Parliament either Friday or Saturday; I’m not 100% sure as to which day. For tonight, we talked about doing a Jack the Ripper tour but we also realized that there is a big football match tonight, so we might just go to a pub and watch the match and see some football hooligans!! :D