Oxford Inscriptions: Former Law Court
DISCITE IUSTITIAM MONITI
[Be warned: learn justice]
VR
(Victoria Regina) on each side
In the centre are the sword
and scales of justice
The Latin text is taken from Virgil, Aeneid, VI: 60, where Phlegyas, who is being tormented in Tartarus in the underworld, warns, “Discite iustitiam moniti et non temnere divos” (“Be warned, learn justice, and do not despise the gods”).
The inscription is over the entrance to the former Law Court in Blue Boar Street at the side of the present Town Hall (opened 1897). In Victorian times the Mayor of Oxford was also the chief magistrate, presiding at quarter sessions and attending the city's courts.
The new police station was entered from Blue Boar Street, and the Sessions Court was on the second floor. Jackson's Oxford Journal of 12 October 1895 reported thus on the Court that was being built:
Around the Court, which will be on the second floor, will be grouped witness rooms, Justices' rooms, Grand Jury rooms, Jury retiring rooms, Jury waiting rooms, and a large Hall. The Court will be 43ft. 3 inches long by 36ft. wide, and will be used by the City Magistrates at the ordinary bi-weekly sittings. There will be a gallery at the north end for the public, who will also be accommodated on the floor of the building.