Shifting face of justice | Wairarapa Opinion | Local Voices from Wairarapa, New Zealand

You have got to feel for the legal profession in Wairarapa right now and the staff of Masterton District Court as they are virtually homeless.

Ever since a decision was made to abandon the courthouse on the corner of Dixon Street and Park Avenue, which after all these years has been declared an earthquake risk, our legal-eagles and their clients have been shunted from pillar to post.

At first bits and pieces of our judicial system were dealt with in a caravan parked variously outside the earthquake-prone courthouse or the pathway leading to Masterton police station.

Then - to use police speak - it "decamped" to the Carterton Events Centre, a lovely new building but one that was never intended to mete out justice to lawbreakers.

So, the court was on the move again, this time to the Frank Cody Lounge in the Masterton Town Hall.

Now that venue has come under fire with claims security, particularly for prisoners being held in custody, is not up to the task and with rumblings of intimidation, apparently sparked by people's unease over seeing - or walking past - clients of the court to access other parts of the building.

Let's face it rubbing shoulders with the diverse range of people a court house attracts is not a particularly comfortable feeling and, by that, I don't simply mean those facing criminal charges.

Throwing judges, court staff, police, lawyers, defendants and their supporters all into a confined space has obvious drawbacks.

As to alleged intimidation on the street outside the makeshift court, that could be more a case of perception than fact.

Perhaps Masterton people have long since grown accustomed to seeing people milling around outside the courthouse in Dixon Street, but are rather taken aback to see the same situation outside a building usually inhabited by such noble souls as our district councillors, blood donors or opera patrons.

Since the courthouse abruptly closed in November, two thoughts have struck me over the issue. The first being that the legacy of the Christchurch quakes seems to be affecting buildings throughout the land that have withstood many years of trials and tribulations.

The second being wouldn't it have been a better idea to have lined up a suitable replacement building before the courthouse was shut?