Liverpool Crown Court paused in silence in memory of Queen Elizabeth II this morning, Friday.
A two minutes' silence was held in the Honorary Recorder of Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary QC's courtroom before cases were called on today following the Queen's death on Thursday afternoon. Dozens of barristers and court staff filled counsel and jury benches, the public gallery and even the dock at the Queen Elizabeth II Law Courts as the city's top judge paid a fitting tribute to Her Majesty.
Addressing Richard Pratt QC, head of chambers at 7 Harrington Street Chambers, Judge Menary said: "It is with great sadness that we assemble here this morning to mark the passing of our monarch, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and to reflect on her extraordinary life. It is right and fitting that we should do this.
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"Every judge and recorder sitting here has been appointed by the Queen. We were Her Majesty's judges.
"You, Mr Pratt, represent those who had the enormous honour and privilege to be one of her counsel learned in the law. The dedicated members of staff who work here have been proud to work for Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunal Service and all of us, everyone, is part of a justice system that operates within this building - a building that bears her name.
"We live in strange times. In a world of seemingly constant change and shifting values, Her Majesty the Queen represented for 70 years those standards of service, dedication, strength, dignity, decency and kindness that remain.
"Throughout her reign, she inhabited and exhibited these values. She has led this country through bad times and good, and as many have said she was a national treasure who represented the very best of our United Kingdom.
"She has been a model to us all as we have sought to discharge our various public duties in her name. We will continue to do so in the name of the King."
All of the crown court's judges stood alongside the Recorder of Liverpool as the silence was observed. Mr Pratt meanwhile described the monarch as a "constant through changing times" who was the subject of "love and affection mirrored throughout the generations".
Barristers and advocates who have received the title of Queen's Counsel will now be referred to as King's Counsel with immediate effect.
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