Court holiday opening times have set out which services close over the New Year, while a fictional desk calendar has developed a judicial wig and insists that every Tuesday deserves a formal listing.
The courts and tribunals schedule sets out holiday closures and limited arrangements for some magistrates’ remand hearings. Scottish tribunal offices close on 2 January. The details are practical. The calendar has responded by asking whether its blank pages can now be addressed as your honour.
Court holiday opening times meet the desk calendar
Holiday opening information helps people check whether a court or tribunal is available. That is useful administration. At the fictional Directorate of Dates and Folders, a plain clock has demanded equal treatment. It says it has been open all winter and has not received a single sensible minute of appreciation.
The official schedule distinguishes between ordinary closures and limited remand arrangements. It does not turn the calendar into a judge. However, the calendar has already placed a small paper wig beside the coffee cups and started referring to lunch as a recess.
People with a hearing should use their notice for the relevant arrangements. The fictional office has no hearing. It has only a stack of blank folders and a notebook that keeps suggesting an adjournment until after the biscuits arrive.
A sensible schedule, with less dramatic stationery
Court holiday opening times are a reminder that public services need clear dates as well as serious work. The calendar is pleased with this principle. It has made a colourless grid and called it the constitutional framework for January.
Meanwhile, the blank clock has offered to announce every deadline in a grave voice. The adults declined. They said that a helpful timetable does not require a ceremonial chime or a folder wearing a barrister’s expression.
By the end of the meeting, the calendar had been removed from its imaginary bench. It accepted the ruling, then scheduled an appeal for a date nobody had written down. The clock began clapping silently.
Source: UK Government.
