Courthouses

Australia’s apex court, the High Court, is located in Canberra. Prior to its move in 1980, the High Court had buildings in both Sydney and Melbourne. The building, designed in a modern brutalist style, is forty-meters-high and constructed almost entirely from stone. It houses a great public hall and three courtrooms with over 18,000 square meters of internal space.

The Supreme Court of Austria is located in the “Justizpalast” (Palace of Justice) along with the office of the Prosecutor General, the Vienna Higher Regional Court of Appeals, and the Vienna Regional Civil Court. It was built in the 1870’s during the reign of Emperor Franz Joseph I in a style blending renaissance and historicist designs. In 1927, a mob protesting an acquittal in a high-profile criminal case set fire to the Palace of Justice, destroying the Supreme Court and library. The building was damaged again during World War II during a bombing raid. It was renovated and modernized in the early 2000’s.

Belgium’s Palace of Justice, completed in 1883, is one of the largest courthouses in the world, housing the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and Brussels Court of First Instance. The courthouse has 27 courtrooms and 26,000 square meters of space. Its design is in the style of Greco-Roman temples. The Palace’s copper dome top is adorned with statues and weighs over 24,000 tons. In the 1980s, scaffolding was erected to support the dome during renovations. The original renovation was never completed, and the scaffolding rusted onto the building. In 2023, renovations resumed.

Canada’s Supreme Court operated out of the Parliament building in Ottawa for 75 years. The current courthouse, opened in 1946, is made of granite in an Art Deco style with geometric shapes and flowing lines. The front of the Court has six columns, each separated by rectangular windows. Above the columns lies a row of rectangular blocks with wings extending from each side. The front steps are flanked by two statutes: Veritas (Truth), a woman draped in a robe and holding a large book, and Investitia (Justice), a figure with a hood holding a book and sword.

The Supreme Court of Chile was built in two phases between 1905 – 1930. The main façade and west section were constructed between 1905 – 1911; the remainder was completed between 1928 – 1930. French architect Emilio Doyere designed the building in a neo-classical style with French and Greco-Roman influences. The three-story building spans over 4,000 square meters and houses the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and the Military and Police Courts. The courthouse stretches nearly an entire block with a large portico and two-column façade.

India’s Supreme Court convened for the first time on January 26, 1950, two days after the nation’s constitution came into effect. The Supreme Court building officially opened in New Delhi in 1958. Chief architect Ganesh Bhikaji Deolalikar used an Indo-British style to represent the nation’s new political system: British roots with an Indian perspective. The court complex has 19 courtrooms. The center of the building rises above two wings that extend downward, a design intended to reflect the scales of justice. An outdoor sculpture Mother and Child, symbolizes “Mother India” and the “young Republic of India.”

The Supreme Court of Kenya was established by the 2010 Constitution. Before 2010, the country’s apex court was the Court of Appeal. The neo-classical courthouse was designed and constructed in the early 1930’s by the British. It now houses the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and the judiciary’s Administrative Office. In 2024, the judiciary requested funds for a new court complex equipped with modern technology.

The Federal Court is Malaysia’s apex court. It moved to its current location, a court complex called the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya, Malaysia in 2003. In 2007, the Palace of Justice was renamed “Istana Kehakiman.” It houses the Federal Court as well as the Court of Appeals and the Technology Court. The design of the complex was inspired by India’s Taj Mahal and the Sultan Abdul Samad, a British colonial-era government building in Kuala Lumpur. The blend in styles can be seen in the exterior’s granite, stone, and mosaic tiles.

Mexico’s Supreme Court building opened in 1941. The Art Deco design includes symmetrical geometric shapes and artwork. The interior is filled with paintings, murals, and statues. The Court has three-stories with rows of rectangular windows and bronze doors that have bas-reliefs depicting major events in Mexican history. The first picture, called Christianization in the XVI Century, shows a friar touching both a Spanish soldier and a Native American. The other images illustrate Mexico’s history.

The Namibian Supreme Court opened in 1996, six years after the country gained independence from South Africa. The building’s design was intended to respect its surroundings. For example, the entry way has colonnades of slotted concrete slabs that break up the intense sun. The architects adopted African themes in lieu of European architectural styles. The courthouse has two courtrooms and three sections: public, semi-private, and private. There is a main foyer and an open courtyard with a memorial garden.

The Polish Supreme Court is located in Krasinski Square, Warsaw. It opened in 1999. With over 40,000 square meters of floor space, the building houses both the Supreme Court and the Warsaw Court of Appeals. The front exterior has 76 pillars that signify “the pillars of law.” Each pillar is inscribed with a Roman legal maxim. The court is located directly adjacent to its previous home, Krasinksi Palace, which now serves as host to special exhibitions.

The Supreme Court of Appeals, South Africa’s apex court, presides in a Renaissance-style courthouse built in the early 20th century. It is located in Bloemfontein. Renovations to the building have preserved the original sandstone materials and design. The building also houses a two-level library with 43,000 books and a portrait gallery of former justices.

The Supreme Court of South Korea moved to its new building in 1995. Located in Seocho-gu, Seoul, the courthouse has 16 floors and two underground floors. The building also houses the National Court Administration, and a law library. Its design is a mix of classical and contemporary styles. The building has three courtrooms: one grand bench and two petty benches. The wall of the exterior entrance is engraved with the words (in Korean) “freedom, equality, and justice,” symbolizing the judiciary’s values.

Sweden's Supreme Court has been located in the Bonde Palace, Stockholm since the 1940s. Lord High Treasurer Gustaf Bonde originally built the palace in the 1600s. Upon his death, the city of Stockholm purchased the building from his family and used it as the Stockholm city court. In the 1940s, the Palace was extensively renovated to house the Supreme Court. Before relocating to the Bonde Palace, the Court sat in the Royal Palace of Stockholm’s Halls of Orders of Chivalry.

The Supreme Court of the United States convened for the first time in New York City in 1790. Beginning in 1800, Supreme Court proceedings took place in six different rooms of the Capitol building in Washington, DC. In 1929, after former President and then-Chief Justice William Howard Taft worked with Congress to secure funding, construction began on a courthouse which opened in 1935. It is modeled after a Greco-Roman temple, with a marble façade and front staircase leading to a Corinthian portico flanked by lower wings. The Court’s west pediment includes a sculpture with nine figures and the inscription, “Equal Justice under Law.” Bronze doors lead to the Court’s main hall, each adorned with bas-reliefs depicting events from the evolution of Western legal tradition, including scenes from Homer’s Iliad and a dialogue between Chief Justice John Marshall and Associate Justice Joseph Story, a reference to the landmark case, Marbury v. Madison (1803). The east pediment has sculptures of three famous lawgivers: Moses, Confucius, and Solon, with the inscription, “Justice the Guardian of Liberty.”

The Supreme People’s Court of Vietnam is located in Hanoi. Its new building, completed in 2020, has over 6,000 square meters of space. Constructed in a “new classical style,” the courthouse matches many of the buildings in the surrounding complex. Before 2020, the Supreme Court was located in the Palace of Justice which was built in the early 1900’s and is adjacent to the new building. An inner courtyard between the two buildings has an extensive garden and fountains.