Editing Mons, Belgium (section)

=== Concourse of the Courts ===
In 1966, the Council of Ministers decided to build new buildings to house the Courts of Justice:<ref>Mons – Les Cours de Justice, Régie des Bâtiments, Service de presse, Bruxelles, juin 2007.</ref> Assize Court, Labour Court, Court of Appeal, Court of Commerce, etc. The choice is the site of the former "Hall of exposure". The Building Authority designated as architects for the project the Office Aura (John Bartholomew). The triangular shape of the land has created interior spaces, decreasing in height and width, forming a sort of "cathedral space" underlined by a continuous central luminous line. On this major axis, the "backbone" of the project, has created spaces for encounter and relaxation. The latest techniques have been implemented for the economic management of energy, giving maximum comfort to staff and the public while ensuring the development of architectural building.

Opened in May 2007, by January 2011 all buildings already had developed many problems of water seepage and stability. Thus one of the gateways weighing a hundred kilos came off its hinges and nearly fell on a lawyer who entered, cracks opened between concrete blocks, the joints of windows let in wind and water when it rains in the concourse, etc. The lack of any maintenance contracts might be a significant cause of these problems, since minor problems might otherwise have been prevented from getting worse.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lesoir.be/regions/hainaut/2011-01-20/les-cours-de-justice-prennent-l-eau-816204.php |title=Les cours de justice prennent l'EAU - lesoir.be |access-date=30 March 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402224405/http://www.lesoir.be/regions/hainaut/2011-01-20/les-cours-de-justice-prennent-l-eau-816204.php |archive-date=2 April 2012 }}</ref>