Friday 24 January 2025 A weekly round-up of the latest news and information about courts and tribunals |
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| Law students at Richard Huish College in Taunton are gaining experience of Crown Court life thanks to an innovative recycling initiative. Equans, a facilities management provider for courts across England and Wales, has refurbished and installed genuine courtroom furniture and fittings at the college. We donated the furniture which was previously in poor condition and destined for landfill including jury seating, a defendant dock, and desks for prosecution and defence teams. A volunteer team from Equans restored the items and transformed the classroom, painting the room and fitting wood panelling to create an authentic courtroom environment. |
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| Harrow Crown Court has been closed since August 2023 when Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) was identified at the site. Since then, we have worked with staff, the judiciary and stakeholders to make sure work from the court has continued to be heard at other London sites. We are working to remove all RAAC material from the site, while also replacing the roof structure. The necessary works have proven to be more complex and taken longer to complete than first anticipated. The safety of staff, judicial colleagues and court users is paramount and the works now underway will provide a permanent solution to the risk of RAAC failure. We will continue to work with our appointed contractor to accelerate the required works as much as possible. We now anticipate that Harrow will be ready to resume hearings in a phased approach from the end of 2025, with the whole building fully operational in January 2026. |
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| A new Crown courtroom officially opened this week at Redditch Magistratesâ Court allowing communities across Worcestershire to benefit from quicker access to justice. In order to manage trials involving defendants appearing from prison custody, the new room makes use of existing cells beneath the building. The Lady Chief Justice attended the official opening event, as well as HMCTS Chief Executive, Nick Goodwin and Justice Amanda Tipples, Presiding Judge for the Midlands Circuit. |
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| We have updated our guidance pages to confirm grants of probate are being issued within 12 weeks, down from the previous guidance of 16 weeks. Please continue to check your dashboard on MyHMCTS to check the status of your applications. For further information please contact probatefeedback@justice.gov.uk. |
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| Our probate team will be holding drop in sessions at our Birmingham Service Centre on 3 February and our probate registry in Newcastle on 12 March 2025. These sessions are an opportunity for local probate professionals to meet the team, find out more about the service and hear about planned improvements. For more information and to register your attendance please contact nsfamilybmt@justice.gov.uk. |
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| Work is progressing to create a new tribunal building on Newgate Street, London, housing 30 hearing rooms. We anticipate that we will occupy the building in December 2025, with hearings taking place from early 2026. In the meantime, we will continue to use our existing sites at Victory House and Fox Court. |
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