Judges and magistrates who sit in the area’s courts were joined by civic leaders for a service to mark the start of the judicial year.
The colourful service was held at St Michael’s Church, Lewes, today (Friday 8 November 2024).
The ceremony was organised by the High Sheriff of East Sussex, Lucinda Fraser, whose role includes supporting the judiciary.
She was joined by the Lord-Lieutenant of East Sussex, Andrew Blackman, the King’s personal representative in the county.
Among the judiciary was the Honorary Recorder of Brighton and Hove, Judge Christine Laing, who sits as the resident judge for the Sussex courts. She gave one of the readings.
The Senior Coroner for Brighton and Hove and West Sussex, Penelope Schofield, was also present as was the presiding judge Mrs Justice Theis, also known as Dame Lucy Theis. She also gave a reading.
The Deputy Chief Constable of Sussex Dave McLaren and the Chief Fire Officer of East Sussex Dawn Whittaker also took part in the ceremony at the grade I listed 13th century church.
The service was conducted by the Dean of Chichester Edward Dowler, chaplain to the High Sheriff, and the preacher was the Bishop of Chichester the Right Reverend Martin Warner.
The annual ceremony is held to mark the start of Michaelmas term, the first term of the legal year, although in practice the magistrates’ and crown courts sit all year round.
The prayers included intercessions for “all who administer justice … judges and the tribunal judiciary, magistrates and coroners, jurors and ombudsmen, for clerks and court officials, for barristers, solicitors, chartered legal executives and all whose profession or expertise is the law”.
Prayers were offered for the police, fire service, ambulance service, prison service, those who save lives at sea and protect our borders, the armed forces, the probation service and “all those who sustain order”.
As well as readings from the Bible, Tim Holtam, the founder director of Brighton Table Tennis Club, read from a House of Commons speech in 1910 by Winston Churchill who was then a Liberal MP and, at 35 years old, Home Secretary.
He said: “We must not forget that when every material improvement has been effected in prisons, when the temperature has been rightly adjusted, when the proper food to maintain health and strength has been given, when the doctors, chaplains and prison visitors have come and gone, the convict stands deprived of everything that a free man calls life.
“We must not forget that all these improvements, which are sometimes salves to our consciences, do not change that position.
“The mood and temper of the public in regard to the treatment of crime and criminals is one of the most unfailing tests of the civilisation of any country.
“A calm and dispassionate recognition of the rights of the accused against the state, and even of convicted criminals against the state, a constant heart-searching by all charged with the duty of punishment, a desire and eagerness to rehabilitate in the world of industry all those who have paid their dues in the hard coinage of punishment, tireless efforts towards the discovery of curative and regenerating processes, and an unfaltering faith that there is a treasure, if you can only find it, in the heart of every man – these are the symbols which in the treatment of crime and criminals mark and measure the stored-up strength of a nation, and are the sign and proof of the living virtue in it.”
A collection was taken on behalf of the High Sheriff’s Fund which is administered by the Sussex Community Foundation to provide grants to charities and community groups providing support to the most vulnerable in the county.
