Kudos to Singapore Law Academy for organizing the first ever Open house at the Supreme Court!

I went to the event with Joyce and Yeen at about 2pm and we queued for about 15 minutes before getting through the security checks. The place was buzzing with excitement, and I was really looking forward to meeting a judge. We were each given a brochure for the Justice Trail – a series of 12 questions whose answer can be found on the different floors of the court.

Our first stop was to queue for the court enactments. We wanted to go for the criminal enactment as it was conducted in the court of appeal, level 9! I really wanted to see how Singapore’s highest court was like!! To our disappointment, the queue was so long that we were told that there were no more tickets. Instead, we were asked to move to the civil enactment queue. After we got the wrist bands for the civil enactments, we headed to B1 to see the exhibits and to start the Justice Trail. Lots of myths were dispelled, for instance, our courts start no by the gravel or bell but by a buzzer hehehe… our judges are referred to as ‘Your Honour’ in court and they no longer wear those white wigs for court or for ceremonies.

At 3.30pm, we headed to the level 5 courtrooms for the court enactment. Because we were among the last few to enter, we didn’t get seats! Haha. the court room was surprisingly modern! More like a meeting room than a court. The Singapore flag and crest can be seen at the front.. I think that looks quite stately. Then, the buzzer sounded and the judge came in. Everyone had to stand and bow The guy standing in the picture on the left was the plaintiff.. his acting was pretty convincing. Anyway, the judge dismissed the case as the case was not more than $250,000 in claims, and suggested that the plaintiff should go to the subordinate court instead.

After the 2 civil enactments, we decided to head upstairs. I wanted to go towards the dome – the UFO looking dish! The view was really pretty, parts of Clarke Quay and the old colonial structures can be seen with the CBD as a backdrop. On level 8, there were more exhibits to talk about the difference between a civil case and a criminal case: different burden of proofs. Went to level 9 to catch a glimpse of the Court of Appeal but there was an ongoing talk instead, so that’s the only place I didn’t managed to view.

Back on the ground floor, there was the crime scene of Humpty’s fall. Was it really the big bad wolf who pushed humpty from the second floor of the Supreme Court? I wouldn’t be able to find out since there were no more tickets for the criminal enactment…

Yeen and I completed the Justice Trail and collected the orange shoe bag. Joyce had to leave early so it was just the 2 of us, taking pictures everywhere and making sure we didn’t miss out any exhibits. Some aunties came up to us to ask for help to answer the questions so that they can get the shoe bag too .. hehehe… I think I filled out another 2-3 forms.

At 6.00pm, we were tired and ready to leave after 4 hours in court. Then, we heard an announcement saying that the criminal trial was going to be held at B2 and anyone can enter!! Haha… so 2 of us walked down and managed to get a seat right at the back of the hall.

Apparently, they shifted the criminal trial from Level 9 to B2, so that the bigger hall could take more people I’m glad I managed to see it – hehe.. the witnesses (Blind Mouse Satu, Inspector Tan, Little Red Riding Hood and surprise surprise Humpty himself!) were all good actors. Whoever thought of all the lines for the enactments must really have a good sense of humour.

We left the court feeling really satisfied… it was a good way to spend the afternoon! I said goodbye to yeen and headed to Esplanade for the opera Les Contes D’Hoffmann.. well.. that’s another story.

Signing off now….