Please visit the Information Counter available at the High Court, Supreme Court Building as well as the Law & court’s Building for questions.

Dress code: Smart Attire, Long Pants & Shoes

• Visitors should be properly attired. Visitors with inappropriate attire or slippers or short pants may be removed from courts.

• As a matter of respect to the court, please rise and bow when the judge/magistrate enter the court and when it’s announced that they are about to leave the court room.

• Please have your mobile phones or other devices switch off or on “silent” mode before entering the court;

• If you are attending a hearing/meeting before the court, please refer to the Notice board to find out the Courtroom or Chamber in which your matter will be heard;

• Please make sure that you attend the court at before the scheduled time allocated for your matter to avoid delay. In the event of delay, court proceedings may proceed in your absence;

• Please remember to speak softly when near courtrooms or chambers to avoid disruption of court proceedings;

• Prior appointments (by way of letter) must be made to appear before any Judges, Registrars or Magistrates;

• Members of the public who attends a court hearing must sit quietly and avoid disrupting the ongoing proceedings.

• Court proceedings (Civil and Criminal) are mostly open to the public to observe unless notified otherwise.

• Infants and young children must be attended to at all times.

• Audio and Video or still recording of the court proceedings are prohibited.

WHAT HAPPENS IN THE COURT?
 
In criminal trials taking place in a Magistrate’s Court, Magistrates listen to all the evidence and decide whether the person accused of the crime (the defendant) is guilty or not.  If the defendant is found guilty (this is called a conviction) the Magistrate usually decides on the sentence.  All Magistrates are legally qualified.  In court there will also be a prosecutor, who appears for the prosecution, and there may be a lawyer who argues for the defendant.
 
The more serious cases are dealt with in the Intermediate’ Court or the High Court in front a Judge.   The Judge decides whether the defendant is guilty or not. The Judge will decide on a sentence.  Judges and other lawyers who speak in these Court wear Robes.
 
As well as being a witness in a straightforward criminal case, you may be involved in a preliminary inquiry (committal hearing) at a Magistrates Court to decide whether there is enough evidence for a trial in the Intermediate Court or the High Court.
 
There will be a clerk/interpreter who is responsible for interpreting the proceedings.  He will also call witnesses, take messages, and generally help to run the court.  There may be other people in the court such as police and welfare officers, newspaper reporters and members of the public.

WHERE DOES EVERYONE SIT?
 
The Magistrate sits behind a raised bench and the witness box is usually to one side, to the left of the court.  In the Intermediate and High Court, lawyers and Judges wear Robes.

BEFORE YOU GO TO COURT:
 
•    Take all the papers you have about the case with you.
•    If you think you will need an interpreter, ask the person who has sent you all the papers to arrange one for you.
•    Make sure you have the address of the court.
•    If you like, you can take a friend to keep you company.

 
WHEN YOU ARRIVE AT COURT:
 
•    Give the receptionist the name of the defendant and show the papers you have brought with you, so that he can tell you where to wait.

•    It is much better not to talk to anyone about the evidence you will be giving in case you are asked about this in court.  If you have discussed the case with other people you might find, when you get into court, that your evidence is doubted.  (You can of course speak to prosecutors, lawyers or other people dealing with the case.)

•    Don’t leave the court until you are told that you are no longer needed.

•    If you have an important reason to leave early, tell the clerk/interpreter before the case starts. 

•    If you want to have a look at the court room before your case starts; you can do this first thing in the morning or at lunchtime.

•    If you have made a statement and you want to see it before you give evidence, you will normally be allowed to.  Ask the police officer/prosecutor to get a copy.

•    Some cases are delayed or even put off until another date.  This may be because an earlier case has gone on longer than expected or an important person in the case has not arrived.  Sometimes a defendant pleads guilty on the day of the trial, so that witnesses are told at the last minute that their evidence is not needed.

•    If you leave the court for any reason tells the clerk/interpreter.