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local justice area

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

Local justice areas are units in England and Wales established by the Courts Act 2003,{{Cite legislation UK | type = act | year = 2003 | chapter = 39 | act = Courts Act 2003 | section = 8}} replacing and directly based on{{cite web |title=The Local Justice Areas Order 2005 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/554/made |website=Legislation.gov.uk |publisher=National Archives |access-date=22 December 2024 |page=Explanatory Note |date=8 March 2005}} the previous petty sessional divisions. They have been in existence since 2005.{{Cite legislation UK | type = si | year = 2005 | number = 554 | si = Local Justice Areas Order 2005}}

Whilst previously, local justice areas were used to determine which magistrates' courts may hear a particular case, since 1 April 2015, any magistrates' court in England and Wales may hear any case from anywhere in England and Wales. {{cite web |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmselect/cmodpm/606/606we16.htm |title=Memorandum by the Magistrates' Association, Judicial Policy & Practice Committee |author= |date=17 March 2006 |website=UK Parliament Publications and Records |publisher=House of Commons |access-date= 17 February 2023|quote=Our suggested solution, based upon the fact that from 1 April 2005 magistrates have the capability to hear cases anywhere within the jurisdiction of their National Commission, and not just within their local area...}}{{cite web |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/39/notes/division/7 |title=Courts Act 2003 Explanatory Notes |author= |date=20 November 2003|website=legislation.gov.uk|publisher=The National Archives |access-date=17 February 2023 |at=95}}

The areas established were identical to the petty sessional divisions. They have since been amended by the merger of South Pembrokeshire and North Pembrokeshire to a single Pembrokeshire local justice area,{{Cite legislation UK | type = si | year = 2005 | number = 2949 | si = The Local Justice Areas (No.2) Order 2005}} and the merger of De Maldwyn and Welshpool to a single Montgomeryshire local justice area – this change came into force in 2006, although the magistrates already shared the same courtroom.

A further amendment occurred in 2006 when the areas of Shrewsbury, Oswestry and Drayton were combined to become a new area named Shrewsbury and North Shropshire.{{Cite legislation UK | type = si | year = 2006 | number = 1839 | si = The Local Justice Areas (No.1) Order 2006}} The areas of Telford and Bridgnorth and South Shropshire were also combined to become a new area named Telford and South Shropshire.

A major rearrangement culminated in April 2017, when many local justice areas were amalgamated to leave 75 across England and Wales. {{cite web |url=https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/733478/response/1750947/attach/5/LJA%20and%20Courthouse%202021.pdf |title=Local Justice Areas 2021 |author= |date=10 March 2021 |website=What Do They Know |publisher=HMCTS |access-date=3 March 2023}}{{Cite legislation UK |type=si |year=2016 |number=941 |si=The Local Justice Areas Order 2016 | date=15 September 2016 |accessdate=15 February 2023 }}{{Cite legislation UK |type=si |year=2015 |number=1870 |si=The Local Justice Areas (No. 2) Order 2015 | date=15 September 2015 |accessdate=3 March 2023 }}{{Cite legislation UK |type=si |year=2015 |number=1506 |si=The Local Justice Areas Order 2015 | date=9 July 2015 |accessdate=3 March 2023 }}{{Cite legislation UK |type=si |year=2014 |number=2867 |si=The Local Justice Areas (No. 3) Order 2014 | date=25 October 2014 |accessdate=3 March 2023 }}{{Cite legislation UK |type=si |year=2014 |number=1899 |si=The Local Justice Areas (No. 2) Order 2014 | date=17 July 2014 |accessdate=11 December 2024 }}{{Cite legislation UK |type=si |year=2014 |number=322 |si=The Local Justice Areas Order 2014 | date=14 February 2014 |accessdate=13 December 2024 }}{{Cite legislation UK |type=si |year=2013 |number=1878 |si=The Local Justice Areas (No. 2) Order 2013 | date=24 July 2013 |accessdate=13 December 2024 }}{{Cite legislation UK |type=si |year=2013 |number=1777 |si=The Local Justice Areas Order 2013 | date=16 July 2013 |accessdate=13 December 2024 }}{{Cite legislation UK |type=si |year=2012 |number=3128 |si=The Local Justice Areas (No. 3) Order 2012 | date=17 December 2012 |accessdate=13 December 2024 }}{{Cite legislation UK |type=si |year=2012 |number=1555 |si=The Local Justice Areas (No. 2) Order 2012 | date=16 June 2012 |accessdate=13 December 2024 }}{{Cite legislation UK |type=si |year=2012 |number=1277 |si=The Local Justice Areas Order 2012 | date=14 May 2012 |accessdate=13 December 2024 }}{{Cite legislation UK |type=si |year=2011 |number=1168 |si=The Local Justice Areas Order 2011 | date=26 April 2011 |accessdate=11 December 2024 }}

Each local justice area was part of a larger courts board area, which replaced the magistrates' courts committee areas with the inauguration of Her Majesty's Courts Service in 2005.{{Cite legislation UK | type = si | year = 2004 | number = 1303 | si = The Courts Boards Areas (Amendment) Order 2004}} Courts boards were abolished in 2012. {{Cite Q|Q99682324}}

Local Justice Areas will be abolished once Section 45 of the Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022 is brought into force. {{Cite legislation UK | type = act | year = 2022 | chapter = 35 | act = Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022 | section = 45}}

Post 2017 Local Justice Areas

These are the Local Justice Areas as lasted merged by The Local Justice Areas Order 2016, in effect from 1 April 2017:

  • Avon and Somerset replaces the areas of Bristol, North Avon and Somerset.
  • Bedfordshire replaces the areas of Bedford and Mid Bedfordshire, and Luton and South Bedfordshire
  • Berkshire replaces the areas of East Berkshire, West Berkshire and Reading
  • Birmingham and Solihull replaces the areas of Birmingham, and Solihull
  • Black Country replaces the areas of Dudley and Halesowen, Sandwell, Walsall and Aldridge, and Wolverhampton
  • Buckinghamshire replaces the areas of Milton Keynes, Wycombe and Beaconsfield, and Central Buckinghamshire
  • Cambridgeshire replaces the areas of Huntingdonshire, North Cambridgeshire and South Cambridgeshire.
  • Cardiff replaces the areas of Newcastle and Ogmore and Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan.
  • Carmarthenshire replaces the areas of Carmarthen, Dinefwr and Llanelli
  • Central Kent
  • Central London replaces the areas of Hammersmith and Fulham and Kensington and Chelsea, City of London and City of Westminster
  • Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire replaces the areas of Ceredigion, and Pembrokeshire
  • Cheshire replaces the areas of North Cheshire, South and East Cheshire, and West Cheshire.
  • Cleveland replaces the areas of Hartlepool and Teesside.
  • Cornwall replaces the areas of East Cornwall and West Cornwall
  • County Durham and Darlington replaces the areas of North Durham and South Durham
  • County of Wiltshire replaces the areas of North West Wiltshire, South East Wiltshire and Swindon
  • Coventry and Warwickshire replaces the areas of Coventry District, and Warwickshire
  • Dorset replaces the areas of East Dorset and West Dorset.
  • East Hampshire replaces the areas of South East Hampshire and South Hampshire.
  • East Kent
  • East London replaces the areas of Hackney and Tower Hamlets, Newham and Waltham Forest
  • Gloucestershire
  • Greater Manchester replaces the areas of Bolton, Bury and Rochdale, Manchester and Salford, Oldham, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, and Wigan and Leigh.
  • Gwent
  • Herefordshire
  • Humber replaces the areas of East Yorkshire, Grimsby and Cleethorpes, Hull and Holderness, and North Lincolnshire.
  • Isle of Wight
  • Lancashire replaces the areas of Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale, Chorley, East Lancashire, Fylde Coast, Lancaster, Ormskirk, and Preston and South Ribble.
  • Leicestershire and Rutland replaces the areas of Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Market Bosworth; Leicester, Market Harborough and Lutterworth; and Loughborough, Melton, Belvoir and Rutland
  • Lincolnshire replaces the areas of East Lincolnshire, South Lincolnshire, and West Lincolnshire
  • Merseyside replaces the areas of Liverpool and Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens, and Wirral.
  • Mid Wales replaces the areas of Brecknock and Radnorshire and Glamorgan Valleys.
  • Norfolk replaces the areas of Central Norfolk, North Norfolk, South Norfolk, West Norfolk, Great Yarmouth and Norwich
  • North and East Devon replaces the areas of Central Devon and North Devon
  • North and East Hertfordshire replaces the areas of North Hertfordshire and East Hertfordshire
  • North and West Cumbria replaces the areas of North Cumbria, and West Cumbria
  • North Central Wales replaces the areas of Conwy and Denbighshire.
  • North East London replaces the areas of Barking, Havering and Redbridge
  • North East Wales replaces the areas of Wrexham Maelor and Flintshire
  • North Essex replaces the areas of Mid-North Essex, North West Essex and North East Essex
  • North Hampshire replaces the areas of North East Hampshire and North West Hampshire
  • North Kent
  • North London replaces the areas of Camden and Islington, Enfield and Haringey
  • North Northumbria replaces the areas of Berwick-upon-Tweed, Mid and South East Northumberland, Newcastle and Tynedale, and North Tyneside District.
  • North West London replaces the areas of Barnet, Brent and Harrow Gore
  • North West Wales replaces the areas of Gwynedd and Anglesey (Ynys Môn).
  • North Yorkshire replaces the areas of Harrogate and Skipton, Northallerton and Richmond, Scarborough and York and Selby.
  • Northamptonshire replaces the areas of Corby, Kettering, and Northampton, Daventry and Towcester, and Wellingborough.
  • Northern Derbyshire replaces the areas of High Peak, and North East Derbyshire and Dales
  • Nottinghamshire replaces the areas of Mansfield and Worksop, and Nottingham and Newark
  • Oxfordshire replaces the areas of Southern Oxfordshire, Northern Oxfordshire and Oxford
  • Shropshire replaces the areas of Shrewsbury and North Shropshire, and Telford and South Shropshire
  • South and West Devon replaces Plymouth District and South Devon
  • South Cumbria replaces the areas of Furness and District, and South Lakeland
  • South East London replaces the areas of Greenwich and Lewisham, Bexley and Bromley
  • South Essex replaces the areas of Mid-South Essex, South West Essex and South East Essex
  • South London replaces the areas of Croydon, Lambeth and Southwark, and Sutton
  • South Northumbria replaces the areas of Gateshead District, City of Sunderland and South Tyneside District.
  • South West London replaces the areas of Kingston, Merton, Richmond-upon-Thames and Wandsworth
  • South Yorkshire replaces the areas of Barnsley District, Doncaster, Rotherham, and Sheffield.
  • Southern Derbyshire
  • Staffordshire replaces the areas of Central and Southwest Staffordshire, North Staffordshire, and South East Staffordshire.
  • Suffolk replaces the areas of North East Suffolk, South East Suffolk, and West Suffolk
  • Surrey replaces the areas of North Surrey, South East Surrey, and South West Surrey.
  • Sussex (Central)
  • Sussex (Eastern)
  • Teesside replaces the areas of Langbaurgh East and Teesside
  • West and Central Hertfordshire replaces the areas of West Hertfordshire and Central Hertfordshire
  • West Glamorgan replaces the areas of Swansea County and Neath Port Talbot
  • West Hampshire replaces the areas of New Forest and Southampton
  • West London replaces the areas of Ealing, Hounslow and Hillingdon
  • West Sussex replaces the areas of Sussex (Northern) and Sussex (Western)
  • West Yorkshire replaces the areas of Bradford and Keighley, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds District, and Wakefield and Pontefract.
  • Worcestershire replaces the areas of Bromsgrove and Redditch, Kidderminster, and South Worcestershire

See also

== References ==

{{reflist}}

External links

  • [http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/39/contents Courts Act 2003]
  • [https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2016/941/made The Local Justice Areas Order 2016]

Category:Politics of England

Category:Politics of Wales

Category:Courts of England and Wales