Grand Hall of Justice

Grand Hall of Justice
The definitive version of the current Grand Hall, designed and painted by Carlos Ezquerra.

The Grand Hall of Justice of Mega-City One is a fictional building in the Judge Dredd comic strip in 2000 AD. It actually refers to three different buildings which existed at different times. The Grand Hall has been an important setting in several Judge Dredd stories, and one story, The Prankster, was written specifically about it.

The location was originally called "Justice HQ" but the term "Hall of Justice" was first used in prog 11; "Justice Central" would be used as the term a few times after prog 86.

The Grand Hall is the headquarters building of the Justice Department of Mega-City One. It appears to be located over the site of Midtown Manhattan, less than a kilometer from Grand Central Terminal. Since Justice Department is responsible not only for law enforcement but for most arms of government, the Grand Hall is essentially the central government building of the whole city-state of around 400 million people. As well as containing government offices it also contains the living quarters of several senior judges (including Dredd since 2124), a well-stocked armoury, and two public museums. The Hall of Heroes commemorates the most distinguished heroes and judges of the city, and contains the sarcophagus of the first chief judge, Chief Judge Fargo. The Black Museum contains exhibits relating to the city's most notorious criminals. Judge Death was held prisoner there as an exhibit, his spirit form trapped in Judge Anderson's body, between his first capture and his first escape (2102–2103).

The Grand Hall is located in Sector 1, and has been rebuilt twice.

The official appearance of the third Grand Hall of Justice was designed by artist Carlos Ezquerra in 1983 (top right), and was first shown in prog 308 of 2000 AD. This version has been shown in the comic many times, both in stories by Ezquerra and in those by other artists. However alternative designs have occasionally been used in the comic. In the 1995 Judge Dredd film the building was depicted as an eagle with outstretched wings, and this design was copied in the 2003 computer game.