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.
Local justice areas are used to determine which Magistrates' Courts may hear a particular case. Specifically, cases may only be heard in courts which are in:
- a place in the local justice area in which the offence is alleged to have been committed,
- a place in the local justice area in which the person charged with the offence resides,
- a place in the local justice area in which the witnesses, or the majority of the witnesses, reside, or
- a place where other cases raising similar issues are being dealt with.
The areas established were identical to the petty sessions areas. They have since been amended by the merger of South Pembrokeshire and North Pembrokeshire to a single Pembrokeshire local justice area, and the merger of De Maldwyn and Welshpool to a single Montgomeryshire local justice area - this change will 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. The areas of Telford and Bridgnorth and South Shropshire were also combined to become a new area named Telford and South Shropshire.
Each local justice area is part of a larger Courts Boards area, which replaced the Magistrates' Courts' Committee areas with the inauguration of Her Majesty's Courts Service in 2005.
Read more about Local Justice Areas: Wales
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