Maggie: witnessing the judicial system at its best

Going to court is not an everyday experience, and though I achieved the outcome I envisaged in this particularly case, it also served as a prime opportunity for me to witness the judicial system at its best. It has been a few years since I last stepped foot into a court setting, and I was interested to see if anything had changed since my time serving on the Board of Her Majesty’s Court Service.

As many of you will know, I hold fairness as a strong value, and when I conduct business and engage in activities I always ensure that they are built on respect and mutual trust. Therefore, when I arrived for my case, I wanted to make sure that I communicated these very same values.

The court itself had a very calming atmosphere, which was mainly due to the decor of green carpet, brown furniture and green and white flecked walls. And when I walked into the court I was surprisingly transported back to my time in Saudi Arabia as the court staff, dressed head to toe in black robes, reminded me of my time there and of my abaya which I wore whenever I was out in public. When it finally came to my time to speak, I instilled the values of fairness, integrity and trust into my speech, and I think this was well received by the judge as he could see my honest intentions. I went into my case with nothing to lose, which is why the outcome was extremely satisfying for me.

However, I am well aware that our judicial system does not work for everybody, and there will be people reading this who think quite differently to me. In the lead up to my court case, I made sure that I was extremely prepared for every situation, and as a result now feel more knowledgeable to offer advice on how to tackle today’s court room. Therefore, I would be more than happy to lend out my tips on court confidence to any of my readers facing a similar experience to mine.

By Maggie