The Greater London Magistrates' Courts Authority (Provision of Court-houses etc.) Regulation 2001

Statutory Instruments

2001 No. 603

MAGISTRATES' COURTS, ENGLAND AND WALES

The Greater London Magistrates' Courts Authority (Provision of Court-houses etc.) Regulation 2001

Made

26th February 2001

Laid before Parliament

28th February 2001

Coming into force

1st April 2001

The Lord Chancellor, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by paragraph 35 of Schedule 14 to the Access to Justice Act 1999(1) hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Greater London Magistrates' Courts Authority (Provision of Court-houses etc.) Regulations 2001.

(2) These Regulations shall come into force on 1st April 2001.

(3) In these Regulations—

“the 1997 Act” means the Justices of the Peace Act 1997(2),

“the 1999 Act” means the Access to Justice Act 1999, and

“relevant councils” has the meaning given in regulation 2(6).

Continuing provision of court-houses and other accommodation by local authorities

2.—(1) This regulation applies to the petty-sessional court-houses and other accommodation that were provided immediately before the time when paragraph 33 of Schedule 14 to the 1999 Act came into force(3) pursuant to section 55 of the 1997 Act at the addresses specified in paragraph (2).

(2) They are—

(a) the Justice Rooms, 1 Queen Victoria Street, London EC4N 4XY;

(b) the Guildhall, Kingston Upon Thames, KT1 1EU; and

(c) 14/16 North Street, Barking, Essex, 1G11 8AW.

(3) Those court-houses and that other accommodation shall be provided to the Greater London Magistrates' Courts Authority by the relevant councils for the performance of the functions referred to in section 59A(1) of the 1997 Act(4).

(4) Subject to paragraph (5), the provision made under paragraph (3) shall be made on the same terms and conditions, including conditions as to payment, as those on which it was made immediately before the time when paragraph 33 of Schedule 14 to the 1999 Act came into force.

(5) The relevant councils shall not alter or extend the court-houses or other accommodation without the consent of the Lord Chancellor.

(6) For the purposes of this regulation, the relevant councils are—

(a) in the case of the provision made at the address mentioned in paragraph (2)(a), the Common Council of the City of London;

(b) in the case of the provision made at the address mentioned in paragraph (2)(b), the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames; and

(c) in the case of the provision made at the address mentioned in paragraph (2)(c), the London Borough of Barking.

Signed by authority of the Lord Chancellor

Jane Kennedy

Parliamentary Secretary

Lord Chancellor’s Department

Dated 26th February 2001

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These regulations require the Common Council of the City of London, the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and the London Borough of Barking to provide to the Greater London Magistrates' Courts Authority court-houses and other accommodation that was provided by them under section 55 of the Justices of the Peace Act 1997 (duties of local authorities) and is not being transferred to the Authority.

They are to be provided for the purposes of the Authority’s functions and those of the magistrates for Greater London or any committee of those magistrates and the justices' clerks for any part of Greater London, and are to be provided on the same terms as those on which they were provided under that section, except that the Lord Chancellor’s consent is required for the alteration or extension of the buildings.

(1)

1999 c. 22.

(2)

1997 c. 25.

(3)

Paragraph 33 of Schedule 14 to the Access to Justice Act 1999 came into force on 27th September 1999 under section 108 of that Act.

(4)

Section 59A of the Justices of the Peace Act 1977 is inserted by section 83(2) of the Access to Justice Act 1999. The insertion comes into force on such day as the Lord Chancellor may by order appoint.