After paying a fine at the European Court of Human Rights, Russia made some changes and built a separate glass chamber for prisoners considered dangerous. But many human rights organizations do not support it.
In developing democracies, they are also removing docks. It’s been nearly half a century since the docket was removed from American courts. There the accused sits with his lawyer and if the offense is considered serious or the accused’s behavior is considered dangerous, special preventive measures are taken. But even if fetters are used around the ankles in such cases, it is also kept out of sight. Yet according to statistics, the most dangerous criminals are languishing in American prisons.
The US court’s explanation for this practice is to ensure that there is no psychological impact on the 11 members of the jury who are ordinary citizens but have been given a duty by the court to judge crime. After all, everyone is innocent until proven guilty by law and has the same rights as anyone else.
In Britain too, the discussion of abolishing the docks is on full swing. Justice, an all-party group for law reform and human rights, published a study report in 2015, ‘In the Docks, Reassessing the Use of the Dock in Criminal Trials’). They reviewed the experience of various countries and made recommendations that all accused persons should be seated behind or near their lawyers, the dock should be removed, and if there are security concerns, additional security arrangements should be made, according to the court. Needed and that the additional security measures are not visible to the members of the jury, etc.
Ensuring the security of the court is certainly important. But it is baseless to think that the potential security risk can only come from the accused. As mentioned earlier, the most sensational scuffle with prisoners took place while the accused were being taken from the jail to the court. Two other major incidents of snatching of dangerous prisoners in Dhaka and Chattogram also took place outside the court building. On the other hand, other incidents of escape of the accused took place from the police lockup located near the court.