An Act to make provision about the courts and their procedure and practice; about judges and magistrates; about fines and the enforcement processes of the courts; about periodical payments of damages; and for connected purposes.
The Act deals predominantly with criminal courts' administration, though certain sections deal with civil matters (notably creating a post of "Head of Civil Justice", enabling provisions for family procedure rules, and amendments to its civil procedure equivalent).
The Act also abolished magistrates' courts committees, combining the magistrates' courts' administration with the Court Service, which was then renamed Her Majesty's Courts Service. "Fines Officers" are instituted in order to strengthen the system for collecting fines after the existing system was criticised for relative ineffectiveness. Schedule 1 of the Act provided for the establishment of courts boards.[2]
Sections 50 to 57 of this act also provide court security officers the power of search, seizure/retention of items, restraint and removal from court when performing their duties.
The act also transfers the authority and obligation of high sheriffs, in relation to civil writs, to sheriff's officers; previously, high sheriffs had delegated these to the sheriff's officers, in any case, but the Blair Ministry preferred to make this explicit, and remove the theoretical power of the high sheriff. It also renames this more-than-1000-year-old role - the sheriff's officer - to High court enforcement officers, for reasons that have not been explained, except perhaps to give it a modern-sounding name.
Referencesedit
^Text of the Courts Act 2003 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.
^. Archived from the original on 8 January 2010. Retrieved 1 February 2010.
External linksedit
Department for Constitutional Affairs - The Courts - Courts Act 2003
courts, 2003, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messages, this, article, possibly, contains, original, research, please, improve, verifying, claims, made, adding, i. This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article possibly contains original research Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations Statements consisting only of original research should be removed August 2014 Learn how and when to remove this message This article includes a list of general references but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations May 2009 Learn how and when to remove this message Learn how and when to remove this message The Courts Act 2003 c 39 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom implementing many of the recommendations in Sir Robin Auld s a Court of Appeal judge Review of the Criminal Courts in England and Wales also known as the Auld Review The White Paper which preceded the Act was published by the Home Office on the 17 July 2002 and called Justice for All Courts Act 2003Act of ParliamentParliament of the United KingdomLong titleAn Act to make provision about the courts and their procedure and practice about judges and magistrates about fines and the enforcement processes of the courts about periodical payments of damages and for connected purposes Citation2003 c 39Territorial extent England and Wales Scotland Northern IrelandDatesRoyal assent20 November 2003Other legislationRepeals revokesJustices of the Peace Act 1997Amended byCrime and Courts Act 2013 Courts and Tribunals Act 2018 Domestic Abuse Act 2021 Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Act 2022Status AmendedText of statute as originally enactedText of the Courts Act 2003 as in force today including any amendments within the United Kingdom from legislation gov uk The Act has nine parts 1 Maintenance of the court system Justices of the Peace Magistrates courts Court security Inspectors of court administration Judges Procedure rules and practice directions Miscellaneous Final provisions technical provisions The Act deals predominantly with criminal courts administration though certain sections deal with civil matters notably creating a post of Head of Civil Justice enabling provisions for family procedure rules and amendments to its civil procedure equivalent The Act also abolished magistrates courts committees combining the magistrates courts administration with the Court Service which was then renamed Her Majesty s Courts Service Fines Officers are instituted in order to strengthen the system for collecting fines after the existing system was criticised for relative ineffectiveness Schedule 1 of the Act provided for the establishment of courts boards 2 Sections 50 to 57 of this act also provide court security officers the power of search seizure retention of items restraint and removal from court when performing their duties The act also transfers the authority and obligation of high sheriffs in relation to civil writs to sheriff s officers previously high sheriffs had delegated these to the sheriff s officers in any case but the Blair Ministry preferred to make this explicit and remove the theoretical power of the high sheriff It also renames this more than 1000 year old role the sheriff s officer to High court enforcement officers for reasons that have not been explained except perhaps to give it a modern sounding name References edit Text of the Courts Act 2003 as in force today including any amendments within the United Kingdom from legislation gov uk Her Majesty s Courts Service Structure of HMCS Archived from the original on 8 January 2010 Retrieved 1 February 2010 External links editDepartment for Constitutional Affairs The Courts Courts Act 2003 The Courts Act 2003 as originally enacted from the Office of Public Sector Information nbsp This legislation in the United Kingdom or its constituent jurisdictions article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Courts Act 2003 amp oldid 1169942093, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
