Within the criminal justice system of England and Wales, the Crown Court is the arena in which the most serious criminal offences are prosecuted and sentenced. Over the course of this book, we have looked at what it is like to attend the Crown Court as a victim, a witness or a defendant; and it is clear that, for many, this is an immensely daunting experience. A victim coming to court to give evidence faces the prospect of reliving the offence in a public and alien setting. Recounting to the court the details – including, potentially, harrowing and intimate details – of what allegedly happened can leave a victim feeling exposed and vulnerable; feelings that are likely to be heightened when, during cross-examination, the victim's account is robustly challenged and undermined, and when the jury's verdict is awaited. Other (non-victim) witnesses may also be fearful or distressed when attending Crown Court: they may, for example, find it difficult to express themselves and to make themselves heard in the unfamiliar and highly formal environment of the courtroom; they may feel intimidated by the lawyers; and they may be scared of encountering the defendant and about possible repercussions of giving evidence. But it is defendants, very often, who have the most at stake when they come to the Crown Court: their reputation, their livelihood and, ultimately, their liberty may turn on a jury's verdict or a judge's decision about sentence.

The nature of Crown Court proceedings

Proceedings in the Crown Court, and much of the interaction and language of the courtroom, are elaborate, ritualised and, in many respects, archaic. Not least, the wigs and gowns worn by the legal professionals in court help to create a sense of other-worldliness, even while most of the day-to-day substantive business of the court is centred on grim, sordid and often violent happenings within a world that is all too real. The deployment of formality and ritual can be seen as, in part, a deliberate strategy to sustain the Crown Court's aura of authority for those who work in court and, especially, those who enter this space as outsiders – that is, the victims, witnesses and defendants, and their friends and family members who come to support them.