Old Australian Courthouse Finds New Life as Nihon Univ. Facility

Newcastle, Australia, Aug. 29 (Jiji Press)--A 134-year-old former courthouse in Newcastle, Australia, is now a facility of Japan's Nihon University, with its preserved courtrooms offering students a hands-on lesson in the justice system.

Completed in 1892, the former Newcastle Courthouse, distinguished by an arched entrance, is listed as a New South Wales cultural heritage site. After the court moved to a new building in 2016, Nihon University purchased and restored the property.

The university has used the former courthouse since 2024, along with classrooms and lodging facilities built on either side.

Courtrooms of different sizes, holding cells as well as rooms where defendants met their lawyers, remain in their original configurations. The defendant's dock in the former Grand Courtroom is enclosed by a wooden railing, with a dedicated staircase connecting it to the cell directly below.

Students taking part in a study program in Australia in late August held a mock trial in the former Grand Courtroom.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]