Brighton Law Courts is a

Crown Court The Crown Court is the court of first instance of England and Wales responsible for hearing all Indictable offence, indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals lied to it by the Magistrates' court, magistrates' court ...

venue, which deals with serious criminal cases, and a Magistrates' court venue in Edward Street,

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, England.

History

Until the mid-1960s, the quarter sessions in Brighton were held in Brighton Town Hall. However, as the number of criminal cases in the Brighton area grew, it became necessary to commission a more modern courthouse. The site selected by the Lord Chancellor's Department, on the north side of Edward Street, had accommodated a series of rows of terraced housing (William Street, Henry Street and John Street) before the area was cleared. The new building was designed by the borough architect, Percy Billington, in the

brutalist style Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the ba ...

, built in concrete and glass at a cost of £665,000 and was officially opened by the Lord Chancellor, Lord Gardiner, on 3 November 1967. The design involved a broadly symmetrical main frontage of ten bays facing onto Edward Street. The central section of eight bays featured a flight of steps leading up to an entrance slightly to the right of centre. The entrance was covered by a canopy supported by steel columns, above which, there was a concrete panel bearing a Royal coat of arms. The central section were fenestrated by large glass panels in the other bays on the lower two floors, and by a row of small square

casement window A casement window is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges at the side. They are used singly or in pairs within a common frame, in which case they are hinged on the outside. Casement windows are often held open using a cas ...

s on the second floor. The end bays, which formed the visible part of side wings stretching along William Street and John Street, were projected forward and completely faced in concrete panels. Internally, the building was laid out to accommodate two courtrooms for the quarter sessions, two courtrooms for the magistrates, and one courtroom for the coroner. Following implementation of the

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. It established the Crown Court, introduced the posts of circuit judge and recorde ...

, the two courtrooms allocated for the quarter sessions became the venue for hearings of the crown court. After an extensive refurbishment of the building, during which the magistrates were accommodated at the former parochial offices in Princes Street, the building was formally re-opened by the Lord Chief Justice,

Lord Lane Geoffrey Dawson Lane, Baron Lane, (17 July 1918 – 22 August 2005) was a British Judge who served as Lord Chief Justice of England from 1980 to 1992. The later part of his term was marred by a succession of disputed convictions. Lane's criti ...

, on 27 April 1989. Notable cases have included the trial and conviction of a kitchen worker, Francesco D'Agostino, in October 2020, for the murder of an Albanian immigrant, Serxhio Marku.

References

External links

Court information
{{Brighton and Hove buildings Buildings and structures in Brighton and Hove Crown Court buildings Government buildings completed in 1967 Court buildings in England