List of courts in England and Wales
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e1/Oldbaileylondon-900.jpg/220px-Oldbaileylondon-900.jpg)
This is a list of courts in England and Wales. For information about the different types of court see Courts of England and Wales.
Civil courts
The highest appellate court is the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, followed by the Court of Appeal. The highest court in which originating process may be issued is the High Court of England and Wales. The High Court is based at the Royal Courts of Justice in London and in district registries elsewhere.
District registries of the High Court
England
- Bedford
- Birkenhead
- Birmingham
- Bradford
- Bristol
- Canterbury
- Cambridge
- Chester
- Chichester
- Colchester
- Croydon
- Dewsbury
- Halifax
- Hove
- Leeds
- Leicester
- Lincoln
- Liverpool
- Lewes
- Manchester
- Newcastle upon Tyne
- Norwich
- Nottingham
- Oxford
- Scarborough
- Sheffield
- Southampton
- Teesside (in Middlesbrough)
- Warrington
- Weymouth and Dorchester
- Worksop
Wales
- Aberystwyth
- Blackwood
- Brecknock
- Bridgend
- Caernarfon
- Cardiff
- Carmarthen
- Haverfordwest
- Llangefni
- Merthyr Tydfil
- Mold
- Newport
- Pontypridd
- Rhyl
- Swansea
- Welshpool
County Court
When the county court system was created as a result of the County Courts Act 1846, there were 491 county courts in England and Wales. Since the Crime and Courts Act 2013 came into force, there has been one County Court in England and Wales, sitting simultaneously in many different locations.
Criminal courts
Crown Court
The Crown Court deals with serious criminal charges and with less serious charges where the accused has elected trial at the Crown Court instead of trial at a magistrates' court. The Crown Court also hears appeals against conviction and sentence from magistrates.[1] There are 91 locations in England and Wales at which the Crown Court regularly sits.[2] Crown Court centres are designated in one of three tiers: first-tier centres are visited by High Court judges for criminal and also for civil cases (in the District Registry of the High Court); second-tier centres are visited by High Court judges for criminal work only; and third-tier centres are not normally visited by High Court judges. High Court judges hear 2% of cases at the Crown Court, but 27% of the most serious (Class 1) cases. Circuit judges and recorders sit at all three tiers, hearing 88% and 10% of the cases respectively. When the Crown Court is conducting a trial, the judge sits with a jury of twelve; when hearing appeals from magistrates, the judge sits with two (or sometimes four) magistrates.[1]
The Crown Court was established by the Courts Act 1971, which came into force on 1 January 1972, following the recommendations of a royal commission chaired by Lord Beeching. Previously, criminal cases that were not dealt with by magistrates were heard by assizes and quarter sessions, in a system that had changed little in the preceding centuries.[3] The Crown Court system is administered by Her Majesty's Courts Service, an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice. England is divided into six regions by HMCS (London, Midlands, North East, North West, South East and Western), with the whole of Wales forming a seventh region.[4]
Section 78 of the Supreme Court Act 1981 provides that the Crown Court can conduct business at any location in England and Wales, in accordance with directions given by the Lord Chancellor.[5] This power is sometimes used to enable court sittings to take place away from one of the regular Crown Court venues. For example, in 2007, a sitting of the Crown Court was held at one of the oldest court buildings in England or Wales, the former courthouse in Beaumaris, Anglesey, which was built in 1614 and closed in 1997.[6]
Magistrates' courts
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Andover_Magistrates%27_Court.jpg/220px-Andover_Magistrates%27_Court.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Magistrates%27_Court_and_Spire_of_St_Paul%27s_Church_by_the_River_Great_Ouse.jpg/220px-Magistrates%27_Court_and_Spire_of_St_Paul%27s_Church_by_the_River_Great_Ouse.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a8/Victoria_Law_Courts_Birmingham.jpg/220px-Victoria_Law_Courts_Birmingham.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Crawley_Magistrates%27_Court.jpg/220px-Crawley_Magistrates%27_Court.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b5/Doncaster_Magistrates%27_Court.jpg/220px-Doncaster_Magistrates%27_Court.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/Kidderminster_Magistrates%27_Court.jpg/220px-Kidderminster_Magistrates%27_Court.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/Nottingham_Magistrates_Court.jpg/220px-Nottingham_Magistrates_Court.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/48/Llandudno_Magistrates%27_Court.jpg/220px-Llandudno_Magistrates%27_Court.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/Sutton_Magistrates%27_Court.jpg/220px-Sutton_Magistrates%27_Court.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8c/Thames_Magistrates_Court%2C_Bow.jpg/220px-Thames_Magistrates_Court%2C_Bow.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9a/Tower_Bridge_Magistrates%27_Court.jpg/220px-Tower_Bridge_Magistrates%27_Court.jpg)
![]() | This section needs to be updated.(January 2013) |
- Accrington
- Acton
- Aldershot
- Alton
- Amersham
- Andover
- Ashford
- Aylesbury
- Banbury
- Bangor
- Barking and Dagenham
- Barnet
- Barnsley
- Barnstaple
- Barrow-in-Furness
- Basildon
- Basingstoke
- Batley and Dewsbury
- Bath
- Bedford and Mid Beds
- Belmarsh
- Berwick upon Tweed
- Beverley
- Bexley
- Bingley
- Birmingham Law Courts
- Bishop Auckland
- Blackburn
- Blackpool
- Blandford Forum
- Bodmin
- Bolton
- Boston
- Bourne
- Bournemouth
- Bow Street Magistrates' Court
- Bracknell
- Bradford
- Brent
- Brentford
- Bridgnorth and Telford
- Bridlington
- Bridport
- Brighton
- Bristol
- Bromley
- Bromsgrove and Redditch
- Burnley
- Burton upon Trent
- Bury
- Bury St Edmunds
- Caernarfon
- Caistor
- Camberwell Green
- Camborne
- Cambridge
- Cannock
- Canterbury
- Cardiff
- Carlisle
- Carmarthen
- Ceredigion
- Chatham
- Chelmsford
- Cheltenham
- Chepstow
- Cheshunt
- Chester, Ellesmere Port and Neston
- Chester-le-Street
- Chichester
- Chippenham
- Chorley
- Cirencester
- City of London
- Coalville
- Colchester
- Coleford
- Consett
- Corby
- Coventry
- Crawley
- Cromer
- Croydon
- Cwmbran
- Darlington
- Dartford
- Daventry
- De Brycheiniog
- De Maldwyn
- Denbigh
- Derby
- Dolgellau
- Doncaster
- Dorking
- Dover
- Dudley
- Durham
- Ealing
- East Berkshire
- Eastbourne
- Ely
- Enfield
- Epping
- Exeter
- Fareham
- Feltham
- Flax Bourton
- Fleetwood
- Flint
- Folkestone
- Furness
- Gainsborough
- Gateshead
- Gloucester
- Goole
- Grantham
- Grays
- Great Yarmouth
- Greenwich
- Grimsby
- Guildford
- Guisborough
- Halesowen
- Halifax
- Halton
- Haringey
- Harlow
- Harrogate
- Harrogate and Skipton
- Harrow
- Hartlepool
- Harwich
- Hastings
- Hemel Hempstead
- Hendon
- Hereford
- Hertford
- High Peak
- High Wycombe
- Highbury Corner
- Hinckley
- Holyhead
- Honiton
- Horncastle
- Horseferry Road Magistrates' Court
- Horsham
- Houghton-le-Spring
- Huddersfield
- Hull and Holderness
- Huntingdon
- Ilkeston
- Ipswich
- Isles of Scilly
- Keighley
- Kendal
- Kettering
- Kidderminster
- King's Lynn
- Kingston-upon-Hull
- Kingston upon Thames
- Knowsley
- Lancaster
- Launceston
- Leamington Spa
- Leeds District
- Leicester
- Leigh and Wigan
- Lewes
- Leyland
- Lincoln
- Liskeard
- Liverpool
- Llandudno
- Llanelli
- Llangefni
- Long Sutton
- Loughborough
- Louth
- Lowestoft
- Ludlow
- Luton and South Bedfordshire
- Lyndhurst
- Macclesfield
- Maidenhead
- Maidstone
- Manchester City
- Mansfield
- Margate
- Market Drayton
- Market Harborough
- Marylebone Road
- Medway
- Melton Mowbray
- Mendip
- Merthyr Tydfil
- Mid Sussex
- Middlesbrough
- Mildenhall
- Milton Keynes
- Minehead
- Mold
- Newark and Southwell
- Newcastle under Lyme
- Newcastle upon Tyne
- Newport (Isle of Wight)
- Newport (South Wales)
- Newton Abbot
- Newton Aycliffe
- North Avon
- North East Derbyshire & Dales
- North Pembrokeshire
- North Sefton
- North Tyneside
- Northallerton and Richmond
- Northampton
- Norwich
- Nottingham Magistrates' Court
- Nuneaton
- Okehampton
- Oldham
- Ormskirk
- Oswestry
- Oxford
- Penrith
- Pentonville
- Penzance
- Peterborough
- Peterlee
- Pickering
- Plymouth
- Pontefract
- Poole
- Portsmouth
- Prestatyn
- Preston
- Pwllheli
- Radnorshire and North Brecknock
- Rawtenstall
- Reading
- Redbridge
- Redditch
- Redhill
- Reedley
- Retford
- Richmond-upon-Thames
- Rochdale
- Rotherham
- Rugby
- Runcorn
- Salford
- Salisbury
- Scarborough
- Scunthorpe
- Sedgemoor
- Selby
- Sevenoaks
- Sheffield
- Sherborne
- Shrewsbury
- Sittingbourne
- Skegness
- Sleaford
- Snaresbrook
- South Cheshire
- South East Northumberland
- South Pembrokeshire
- South Sefton
- South Somerset
- South Tyneside
- South Western
- South Worcestershire
- Southampton
- Southend
- Southern Derbyshire
- Southport
- Spalding
- St Albans
- St Helens
- Stafford
- Staines
- Stamford
- Stevenage
- Stockport
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Stourbridge and Halesowen
- Stratford
- Stratford upon Avon
- Stroud
- Sudbury
- Sunderland
- Sutton
- Swaffham
- Swansea
- Swindon
- Tameside
- Tamworth
- Taunton
- Teesside
- Telford
- Tewkesbury
- Thames
- Thetford (South Norfolk)
- Torquay
- Totnes
- Towcester
- Tower Bridge, now a hotel
- Trafford
- Tredegar
- Truro
- Tunbridge Wells
- Uxbridge
- Vale Royal
- Wakefield
- Walsall and Aldridge
- Waltham Forest
- Wantage
- Wareham
- Warley
- Warrington
- Watford
- Wellingborough
- Wells
- Welshpool
- West Berkshire
- West Bromwich
- West London
- West Somerset
- Weston-super-Mare
- Wetherby
- Weymouth
- Whitby
- Whitehaven
- Widnes
- Wigan and Leigh
- Wimbledon
- Wimborne
- Wirral
- Wisbech
- Witham
- Wolverhampton
- Woodspring
- Woolwich
- Worcester
- Workington
- Worksop and Retford
- Worthing
- Wrexham
- Wycombe
- Yate
- Yeovil
- York
In addition, the youth courts are also a type of magistrates' court which deals with young people. Cases in a youth court are either dealt with by three magistrates or a single district judge, sitting alone.
See also
References
- ^ a b "Judicial and Court Statistics 2007, Chapter 6" (PDF). Ministry of Justice. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 October 2008. Retrieved 16 October 2008.
- ^ "Justice". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. 4 December 2007. col. 1179W–1181W.
- ^ Zander, Michael (2007). Cases and Materials on the English Legal System. Cambridge University Press. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-521-67540-6.
- ^ "HMCS Framework Document" (PDF). HMCS. April 2008. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 November 2008. Retrieved 16 October 2008.
- ^ Jackson, Richard Meredith; Spencer, J. R. (1989). Jackson's Machinery of Justice. Cambridge University Press. p. 176. ISBN 978-0-521-31767-2.
- ^ "Historic court reopens for a day". BBC News. 14 September 2007. Retrieved 17 October 2008.