Defend the Children of the Poor & Punish the Wrongdoer

On the dome above the court is to be found the statue of Lady Justice, a woman holding in her right hand a sword standing for the power to punish, and in her left hand a balance standing for equity. The statue is not blindfolded, as most images of Lady Justice are, and this fact has received many a scoff from criminals being brought into the Old Bailey, remarking that their justice is not impartial and unbiased.

During the Blitz, the Old Bailey was bombed and severely damaged, but subsequent reconstruction work restored most of it in the early 1950's. In 1952 the restored interior of the Grand Hall of the Central Criminal Courts was once again open.