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Law of England and Wales Administration
Criminal courts
Criminal prosecution
Legal profession
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Her Majesty's Courts Service (HMCS) is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and is responsible for the administration of the civil, family and criminal courts in England and Wales.
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 in to a single organisation.
HMCS Structure
Her Majesty's Courts Service carries out the administration and support for the Court of Appeal, the High Court, the Crown Court, the Magistrates' Courts, the County Courts and the Probate Service in England and Wales.
When established court services were administered by 7 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 "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.
HMCS Complaint procedure
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HMCS enforces a hierarchical three tier system to classify and handle complaints made against the HMCS. Tier 1 complaints are handled by the Court's Performance Manager, tier 2 complaints by the Area Director and tier 3 complaints are dealt with by the Customer Services Team.
See also
- Departments of the United Kingdom Government
- Courts of England and Wales
- List of Courts in England and Wales
- Northern Ireland Court Service
- Scottish Court Service
External links
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