Unified Courts Administration Programme
The Government White Paper "Justice for all", published in 2002, recommended that a single agency should be developed to support the delivery of justice in all courts in England and Wales, instead of the Magistrates' Courts Service and the Court Service being administered separately.
The Courts Act 2003 created the legal framework required to make the changes. The focus of the Programme was to devise a system which would offer improved and consistent services to court users by providing:
- A single national agency solely responsible for the delivery of court services with improved and more consistent level of service to court users
- More resources available to support the delivery of justice
- Greater flexibility in the use of court buildings.
On 31 March 2005, responsibility for the 42 existing Magistrates’ Courts Committees and Court Service passed to Her Majesty’s Courts Service.
Read more about this topic: Her Majesty's Courts Service
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