This is a list of Courts in England and Wales

England and Wales

England and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...

. For information about the different types of Courts see Courts of England and Wales

Courts of England and Wales

Her Majesty's Courts of Justice of England and Wales are the civil and criminal courts responsible for the administration of justice in England and Wales; they apply the law of England and Wales and are established under Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.The United Kingdom does not have...

.

Civil Courts

The Highest Court of Appeal is the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom

Supreme Court of the United Kingdom

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is the supreme court in all matters under English law, Northern Ireland law and Scottish civil law. It is the court of last resort and highest appellate court in the United Kingdom; however the High Court of Justiciary remains the supreme court for criminal...

, followed by the Court of Appeal

Court of Appeal of England and Wales

The Court of Appeal of England and Wales is the second most senior court in the English legal system, with only the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom above it...

. The Highest Court in which originating process may be issued is the High Court of England and Wales. The High Court has several district registries as well as the Central Office located at the Royal Courts of Justice

Royal Courts of Justice

The Royal Courts of Justice, commonly called the Law Courts, is the building in London which houses the Court of Appeal of England and Wales and the High Court of Justice of England and Wales...

.

England

• Bedford
• Birkenhead
• Birmingham
• Bradford
• Bristol
• Canterbury
• Cambridge
• Chester
• Colchester
• Croydon
• Dewsbury
• Halifax
• Leeds
• Leicester
• Lincoln
• Liverpool
• Manchester
• Newcastle upon Tyne
• Norwich
• Nottingham
• Scarborough
• Sheffield
• Southampton
• Teesside (In Middlesbrough)
• Warrington
• Weymouth and Dorchester
• Worksop

Wales

• Aberystwyth
• Blackwood
• Brecknock
• Bridgend
• Caernarfon
• Cardiff
• Carmarthen
• Haverfordwest
• Llangefni
• Merthyr Tydfil
• Mold
• Pontypridd
• Rhyl
• Swansea
• Welshpool

County Courts

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. , there are now 217 county courts, including the Patents County Court

Patents County Court

In the legal system of Courts of England and Wales, the Patents County Court in London is an alternative venue to the Patents Court of the High Court for bringing legal cases involving certain matters concerning patents, registered designs and, more recently, trade marks, including Community trade...

.

Crown Courts

The Crown Court

Crown Court

The Crown Court of England and Wales is, together with the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal, one of the constituent parts of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...

 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

Magistrates' Court

A magistrates' court or court of petty sessions, formerly known as a police court, is the lowest level of court in England and Wales and many other common law jurisdictions...

. The Crown Court also hears appeals against conviction and sentence from magistrates. There are 91 locations in England and Wales at which the Crown Court regularly sits. Crown Court centres are designated in one of three tiers: first-tier centres are visited by High Court judge

High Court judge

A High Court judge is a judge of the High Court of Justice, and represents the third highest level of judge in the courts of England and Wales. High Court judges are referred to as puisne judges...

s 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 Recorder

Recorder (judge)

A Recorder is a judicial officer in England and Wales. It now refers to two quite different appointments. The ancient Recorderships of England and Wales now form part of a system of Honorary Recorderships which are filled by the most senior full-time circuit judges...

s 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

Jury (England and Wales)

In the legal jurisdiction of England and Wales, there is a long tradition of jury trial that has evolved over centuries.-History:The English jury has its roots in two institutions that date from before the Norman conquest in 1066...

 of twelve; when hearing appeals from magistrates, the judge sits with two (or sometimes four) magistrates.

The Crown Court system was established by the Courts Act 1971

Courts Act 1971

The Courts Act 1971 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom the purpose of which was to reform and modernise the courts system of England and Wales....

, which came into force on 1 January 1972, following the recommendations of a Royal Commission

Royal Commission

In Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...

 chaired by Lord Beeching. Previously, criminal cases that were not dealt with by magistrates were heard by Assize courts and Quarter Sessions

Quarter Sessions

The Courts of Quarter Sessions or Quarter Sessions were local courts traditionally held at four set times each year in the United Kingdom and other countries in the former British Empire...

 courts, in a system that had changed little in the preceding centuries. The Crown Court system is administered by Her Majesty's Courts Service

Her Majesty's Courts Service

Her Majesty's Courts Service is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice and is responsible for the administration of the civil, family and criminal courts in England and Wales....

, an Executive Agency

Executive agency

An executive agency, also known as a next-step agency, is a part of a government department that is treated as managerially and budgetarily separate in order to carry out some part of the executive functions of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Government, Welsh Assembly or Northern Ireland...

 of the Ministry of Justice

Ministry of Justice (United Kingdom)

The Ministry of Justice is a ministerial department of the UK Government headed by the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor, who is responsible for improvements to the justice system so that it better serves the public...

. 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.

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

Lord Chancellor

The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...

. 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

Anglesey

Anglesey , also known by its Welsh name Ynys Môn , is an island and, as Isle of Anglesey, a county off the north west coast of Wales...

, which was built in 1614 and closed in 1997.

Magistrates' Court

Magistrates' Court

A magistrates' court or court of petty sessions, formerly known as a police court, is the lowest level of court in England and Wales and many other common law jurisdictions...

s

See: local justice areas

Local justice areas

Local justice areas are units in England and Wales established by the Courts Act 2003, replacing and directly based on the previous petty sessions areas. They have been in existence since 2005....

.

• Aberdare
• Abergavenny
• Accrington
• Acton
• Aldershot
• Alnwick
• Alton
• Amersham
• Andover
• Ashford
• Aylesbury
• Banbury
• Bangor
• Barking and Dagenham
• Barnet
• Barnsley
• Barnstaple
• Barrow-in-Furness
• Barry
• Basildon
• Basingstoke
• Batley and Dewsbury
• Bath
• Bedford and Mid Beds
• Belmarsh
• Berwick upon Tweed
• Beverley
• Bexley
• Bicester
• Bingley
• Birmingham
• Bishop Auckland
• Blackburn
• Blackpool
• Blandford Forum
• Bodmin
• Bolton
• Boston
• Bourne
• Bournemouth
• Bow Street Magistrates' Court
  Bow Street Magistrates' Court
  Bow Street Magistrates' Court was the most famous magistrates' court in England for much of its existence, and was located in various buildings on Bow Street in central London close to Covent Garden throughout its history.-History:...
  
  
• Bracknell
• Bradford
• Brent
• Brentford
• Bridgend
• Bridgnorth and Telford
• Bridgwater
• Bridlington
• Bridport
• Brighton
• Bristol
• Bromley
• Bromsgrove and Redditch
• Burnley
• Burton upon Trent
• Bury
• Bury St Edmunds
• Caernarfon
• Caerphilly
• 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
• Cullompton
• Cwmbran
• Darlington
• Dartford
• Daventry
• De Brycheiniog
• De Maldwyn
• Denbigh
• Didcot
• Dolgellay
• 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 Magistrates Court
• 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 Magistrates Court
• 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
  Magistrates Courts, Liverpool
  The Magistrates Courts is a court building on Dale Street, Liverpool. It is a Grade II listed building designed by John Weightman built between 1857-1859. Until the 1970s buildings in Great Crosshall Street were used for juvenile court hearings until a new purpose-built complex was opened...
  
  
• Llandudno
• Llanelli
  Llanelli
  Llanelli , the largest town in both the county of Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed , Wales, sits on the Loughor estuary on the West Wales coast, approximately west-north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarthen. The town is famous for its proud rugby...
  
  
• Llangefni
• Llwynypia
• Long Sutton
• Loughborough
• Louth
• Lowestoft
• Ludlow
• Luton and South Bedfordshire
• Lyndhurst
• Macclesfield
• Maidenhead (East Berkshire)
• 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
• Neath
• Newark and Southwell
• Newbury West Berkshire
• Newcastle under Lyme
• Newcastle upon Tyne
• Newport (Isle of Wight)
• Newport
• Newton Abbot
• Newton Aycliffe
• North Avon
• North East Derbyshire & Dales
• North Pembrokeshire
• North Sefton
• North Tyneside
• Northallerton and Richmond
• Northampton
• Norwich
• Nottingham Magistrates' Court
  Nottingham Magistrates' Court
  Nottingham Magistrates' Court is a Magistrates' Court in Nottingham, England.-History:Until 1996, Nottingham Magistrates were housed in two separate buildings, the Guildhall and the Shire Hall....
  
  
• Nuneaton
• Okehampton
• Oldham
• Ormskirk
• Oswestry
• Oxford and Southern Oxfordshire
• Penrith
• Pentonville
• Penzance
• Peterborough
• Peterlee
• Pickering
• Plymouth
• Pontefract
• Pontypridd
• Poole
• Port Talbot
• Portsmouth
• Prestatyn
• Preston
• Pwllheli
• Radnorshire and North Brecknock
• Rawtenstall
• Reading
• Redbridge
• Redditch Magistrates Court
• Redhill
• Reedley
• Retford
• Richmond-upon-Thames
• Rochdale
• Rotherham
• Rugby
• Runcorn
• Salford
• Salisbury
• Scarborough
• Scunthorpe
• Sedgemoor
• Selby
• Sevenoaks
• Sheffield
• Sherborne
• Shrewsbury
• Sittingbourne
• Skegness
• Sleaford
• Snaresbrook
• Solihull
• 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 Coldfield
• Sutton
• Swaffham (Central Norfolk)
• Swansea
• Swindon
• Tameside
• Tamworth
• Taunton Dean
• Teesside
• Telford
• Tewkesbury
• Thames
• Thetford (South Norfolk)
• Torquay
• Totnes
• Towcester
• Tower Bridge
• Trafford
• Tredegar
• Truro
• Tunbridge Wells
• Tynedale
• Uxbridge
• Vale of Glamorgan
• Vale Royal
• Wakefield
• Walsall and Aldridge
• Waltham Forest
• Wantage
• Wareham
• Warley (Oldbury)
• 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
• Witney
• Woking
• Wolverhampton
• Woodspring
• Woolwich
• Worcester Magistrates Court
• Workington
• Worksop and Retford
• Worthing
• Wrexham
• Wycombe
• Yate
• Yeovil
• York

External links

• Court finder (Directgov, England and Wales)