A Visual Self-Image of Legal Authority: ‘The Temple of Law’

Abstract

The focus of this article is on the legal profession's visual self-image of legal authority. It takes a departure from the themes of visual legal communication and discusses the relationship between text and pictures in the legal domain. The discussion concludes with a reflection on the consequences of the modern pictorial evolution. Bearing this discussion in mind, will the development of the ICT society (information and communication technology) impose new demands on the legal system, or will the law resist the sensuality of the pictorial turn? By describing and analysing 254 photographs produced by The Swedish National Court Administration (Domstolsverket), the analysis will indicate that the internal visual self-image conveyed by the photographs supports and maintains the law's stability and consistency.

Legal culture and image in the Brazilian courts

“…The relationship between law and image is complex and characterized by several facets. These plural and differentiated spaces can be observed in paintings, in the architecture of the courts (Garapon 1997, Carlsson andBaier 2002), in the representation of the State through official documents, such as the French commemorative stamps (Wagner and Bozzo-Rey 2014), in photographs about situations that mobilize the sense of justice (Flusser 1985, Carrabine 2012, in reality shows about crime (Cavender and Fishman 1998), in film production representative of the judicial process (Silbey 2017), in the use of surveillance cameras on the police uniform (Fan 2018). The image recording of situations related to justice can be observed throughout history; however, contemporary technological development has enhanced this capacity (Boltanski 1993).…”

Staging and the Imaginary Institution of the Judge

“…Ritual imposes its order and hierarchy. Theatrical dramatization organizes a stage and architecture [7], understood as a language, imposes its authority. This signifying chain supports the invisible structure of the institution by directing the interactions and by influencing how it is represented in the public space.…”

“…All symbolism is erected on the ruins of previous symbolic constructions, and uses their materials even if it is only in order to furnish the foundations of new temples, as the Athenians did after the Medic Wars. 7 He asks the following question: why does a society have to look for a necessary supplement to their order in imagination? (Ib.…”

“…«Le mythe raconte comment quelque chose est venu a`l'existence, ou comment un comportement, une institution, une manie`re de travailler, ont e´te´fonde´s; c'est la raison pour laquelle les mythes constituent les paradigmes de tout acte humain significatif». 7 Sic. «Tout symbolisme s'e´difie sur les ruines des e´difices symboliques pre´ce´dents, et utilise leurs mate´riaux -meˆme si ce n'est que pour remplir les fondations de nouveaux temples, comme l'ont fait les athe´niens apre`s les guerres me´diques» [8]: p. 181).…”