ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the practical experiences and challenges of arriving at appeal hearings, highlighting how a series of seemingly mundane factors such as journeys to court, court signage and layout, and interactions with ushers, clerks, secretaries and security personnel can influence appellants’ propensities to engage with and trust the legal system. While judges are rightly seen as central to the experience appellants have of hearings, they are one of the last, if not the last, of the actors involved on the day of their hearing that appellants actually meet. We reflect on what some courts and staff did that raised or lowered the levels of disorientation and intimidation of appellants on arrival.
