Drawing in the courtroom is prohibited under s41 of the Criminal Justice Act 1925, so broadcasters and newspapers use pastel sketches by talented and specialist artists who draw from memory outside the courtroom.
This restriction does not apply to hearings in the Supreme Court and the Leveson Inquiry, however. Isobel Williams obtained permission and sketched at both, sharing her work on her blog.
Williams started sketching in the Supreme Court following the eviction of the Occupy camps, she says. She is not setting out to be an official court artist, but to capture the “the general legal process and atmosphere”, outside the news agenda. She sketched in the public gallery of the Leveson Inquiry on Monday 25 June:
“My optician says I’m top gun standard. And today I need it because I’m a long way from my targets across Courtroom 73. I can’t see what I’m drawing.”
Images reproduced here with kind permission of the artist.