What is the impact of criminal contempt on the reputation of the judiciary?

The law of criminal contempt is not about prestige or protection of the independent reputation of the judiciary or some exaggerated notion of the dignity of the court—a concept aptly captured by Stephenson L.J. in Balogh v. Crown Court at St. Albans, supra, at 293: This appeal gives an opportunity to make clear that it [criminal contempt] is a power to be used reluctantly but fearlessly when, and only when, it is necessary to prevent justice being obstructed or undermined … That is not because judges, jurors, witnesses and officers of the court take themselves seriously: it is because justice, whose servants they are, must be taken seriously in a civilised society if the rule of law is to be maintained.