The Queen Elizabeth II Law Courts, in

Derby Square Derby Square is in the city centre of Liverpool, England. The square stands on what was the original site for Liverpool Castle. Records differ on when it was built, but it is believed to have been constructed any time from 1208 to 1235. Follow ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, are operated by

His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice (United Kingdom), Ministry of Justice. It was created on 1 April 2011 (as Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service) by the merger of Her Maj ...

. The building is used by 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, Liverpool District

Probate In common law jurisdictions, probate is the judicial process whereby a will is "proved" in a court of law and accepted as a valid public document that is the true last testament of the deceased; or whereby, in the absence of a legal will, the e ...

Registry and the Liverpool

Youth Court Juvenile court, also known as young offender's court or children's court, is a tribunal having special authority to pass judgements for crimes committed by children who have not attained the age of majority. In most modern legal systems, chi ...

History

Until the mid-1980s, all Crown Court cases were heard in St George's Hall. However, as the number of court cases in Liverpool grew, it became necessary to commission a more modern courthouse for both criminal and civil matters: the site selected by the

Lord Chancellor's Department The Lord Chancellor's Department was a United Kingdom government department answerable to the Lord Chancellor with jurisdiction over England and Wales. Created in 1885 as the Lord Chancellor's Office with a small staff to assist the Lord Chance ...

had been occupied by

Liverpool Castle Liverpool Castle was a castle in Liverpool, Liverpool, England, that stood from the early 13th century to the early 18th century (1237–1726). Construction The castle was probably erected in the 1230s, between 1232 and 1235, under the orders o ...

between the 13th and 18th century. The new building was commissioned by the now-defunct

Property Services Agency The Property Services Agency (PSA) was an agency of the United Kingdom government, in existence from 1972 to 1993. Its role was to "provide, manage, maintain, and furnish the property used by the government, including defence establishments, office ...

, who were seeking a design which expressed authority and power. Construction of the new building started in 1973. It was designed by

Farmer and Dark Farmer and Dark was an architectural practice known for public sector works in post-war Britain. They designed several power stations for the Central Electricity Generating Board during this period. The practice was established in the 1930s by Fran ...

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 with vertically ribbed

pre-cast concrete Precast concrete is a construction product produced by casting concrete in a reusable mold or "form" which is then cured in a controlled environment, transported to the construction site and maneuvered into place; examples include precast bea ...

panels in dark, reddish tones at a cost of £43.4 million, and was officially opened in 1984. Hearings of the Liverpool Magistrates Court, which had been held at the courthouse in Dale Street, transferred to the Queen Elizabeth II Law Courts in 2015.

Architecture

The design by Farmer and Dark features towers on the north and south sides which were intended to echo Liverpool Castle. Pollard and Pevsner describe the architecture as "hulking" and "dispiriting", but "richly sculptural". The front facade of the building features a four metres wide version of the Royal coat of arms. Cast in

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

, it was designed by British sculptor Richard Kindersley. The interior, which accommodates 28 court rooms on 10 storeys, contains strips of brown ceramic tiles in strips between the staircase tower windows.

Notable trials

Notable trials have included: *The trial and acquittal of

Ken Dodd Sir Kenneth Arthur Dodd (8 November 1927 – 11 March 2018) was an English stand-up comedy, comedian, actor and singer. He was described as "the last great music hall entertainer" and was primarily known for his live stand-up comedy, stand-up pe ...

for tax evasion in 1990 *The trial and conviction of Michael Barton for the

murder of Anthony Walker Anthony Delano Walker (21 February 1987 – 30 July 2005) was a Black British student of Jamaican descent who was murdered with an ice axe by Michael Barton (brother of footballer Joey Barton) and Barton's cousin Paul Taylor, in an unprovoked at ...

in 2005 *The trial and conviction of Sean Mercer for the

murder of Rhys Jones On 22 August 2007, Rhys Milford Jones, an eleven-year-old English boy, was murdered in Liverpool while walking home from football practice. Sean Mercer, aged 16 at the time of the shooting, went on trial on 2 October 2008, and was found guilty of ...

in 2008 *The trial and conviction of the

Gooch gang Gooch is a surname. Gooch or the Gooch is also a nickname. It may refer to: Surname People * See Gooch baronets for a list of baronets with the surname (some are listed below) * Alexander Gooch (died 1558), English Protestant martyr * Arthur Go ...

for murder in 2009

References

{{Liverpool B&S Court buildings in Liverpool Crown Court buildings Government buildings completed in 1984 Brutalist architecture in Liverpool 20th-century architecture in the United Kingdom