Her Majesty's Courts Service (HMCS) was an

executive agency An executive agency is a part of a government department that is treated as managerially and budgetarily separate, to carry out some part of the executive functions of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government or No ...

of the

Ministry of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

(MoJ) and was responsible for the

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. ** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...

of the civil, family and criminal courts in

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Th ...

. It was created by the amalgamation of the Magistrates' Courts Service and the Court Service as a result of the Unified Courts Administration Programme. It came into being on 1 April 2005, bringing together the Magistrates' Courts Service and the Courts Service into a single organisation. On 1 April 2011 it merged with the

Tribunals Service The Tribunals Service was an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice in the United Kingdom between April 2006 and March 2011. The Tribunals Service was responsible for: * Adjudicator to HM Land Registry *Asylum and Immigration Tribunal * Cla ...

to form Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (from 8 September 2022 His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service).

HMCS structure

Her Majesty's Courts Service carried out the administration and support for the

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

, the High Court, the

Crown Court The Crown Court is the criminal trial court, court of first instance in England and Wales responsible for hearing all indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals of the decisions of magistrates' courts. It is ...

, the

magistrates' court A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several Jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings. Courts * Magistrates' court (England and Wales) ...

s, the County Court and the Probate Service in

. When established court services were administered by seven regions responsible for 42 local areas. In 2007 this structure was re-organised by reducing the number of areas to 24. The areas are managed by area directors, responsible for the delivery of local services. They work in partnership with courts boards to ensure that the Agency is focussed on its customers and is meeting local needs.

Unified Courts Administration Programme

The Government

White Paper A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. Since the 199 ...

"Justice for all", published in 2002, recommended that a single agency should be developed to support the delivery of justice in all courts in

, instead of the magistrates' courts 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 committee From 1949 to 2005, magistrates' courts committees (MCCs) had overall responsibility for management of the magistrates' courts service within their areas in England and Wales. Origin The system for managing magistrates' courts arose in piecemeal ...

s and Court Service passed to Her Majesty’s Courts Service.

External links

HM Courts and Tribunals Service (England and Wales)
{{Authority control Defunct executive agencies of the United Kingdom government Legal organisations based in England and Wales 2005 establishments in the United Kingdom Government agencies disestablished in 2011 Court administration

HMCS structure

Unified Courts Administration Programme

See also

External links