ABSTRACT
The courtroom is a space of law enforcement and authority as well as the arena of precisely drawn circulation routes and lines of sight. Although the authority of law is always represented by the judge, whose bench rises above the courtroom floor, the drama of the trial involves diverse spatial practices in different countries and types of courts. The two systems of legislation – European and Anglo – American have formed distinctive spatial solutions that reflect the social order, with characteristic positions of the judge and/or the jury as well as the barristers, the prosecutors, the plaintiff, the suspect and the public within the spectacle of adjudication. There are most interesting differences of the seating arrangement, lines of sight in the courtroom and overall spatial organization of the movement in the adjoining area, that seem to spring from the historic development of the above mentioned systems of law.
