How courts have faced many twists and turns (From Craven Herald)

How courts have faced many twists and turns

11:30am Saturday 24th July 2010 in

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As part of Government cutbacks, Skipton Law Courts have been earmarked for possible closure. The move has outraged many people and a campaign – fronted by MP Julian Smith – has been launched in a bid to save both the magistrates’ and county court. Here, solicitor Keith Blackwell, who is opposed to the closure, looks back at the courts’ history and suggests an alternative solution for the future.

The magistrates’ court at Skipton used to sit in the old county court on Otley Street. It was a busy court which heard cases from Skipton, Barnoldswick, Earby and Silsden as well as the rural villages in the area. In addition, courts sat at Settle and Ingleton.

The inadequacy of the old county court led to a new magistrates’ court building being erected at its present site on Otley Street, opening in about 1973. At this time, Skipton, Settle and Ingleton were all within the old West Riding.

In 1974, major changes in local government were implemented. As a consequence, the new Skipton Court House suffered a reduction in the geographical area over which its jurisdiction applied. Earby and Barnoldswick were transferred to Pendle and Silsden to the new Bradford Metropolitan District.

The major beneficiary of these changes was the Keighley Magistrates Division. Before 1974, Keighley Borough Court dealt with cases which arose from the borough. The Bingley Division was separate, but in 1974 the Bingley Division and the former Ilkley Urban District, together with Addingham, Silsden, Eastburn and Steeton, all became part of the Keighley Magistrates Division.

Skipton continued as an independent magistrates division with courts in Skipton, Settle and Ingleton and had its own magistrates’ clerk. Some years ago Skipton Court began to be controlled from Harrogate.

Since the mid-1990s, there have been considerable numbers of court mergers and closures. Initially Settle Court was closed and almost predictably, after a short time, Ingleton was closed. This was a considerable inconvenience for the people of North Craven who had to travel long distances to Skipton, but at least there still was a semblance of local justice.

At the early part of this century there was a move to close Skipton Magistrates’ Court and remove its operations to Harrogate. This was resisted vigorously and, as a result of innovative thinking, a plan was hatched to merge the magistrates’ court and county court operations into the new magistrates’ court building. This enabled the much older county court building to be disposed of.

This suggestion was innovative because until that time county courts had been operated by the Lord Chancellor’s Department under its civil jurisdiction and magistrates’ courts had been operated by the Home Office. This meant that in many places there were two empires, operating with two buildings. Fortunately, merger was allowed in Skipton and the scheme has operated very well.

The changes in 1974 presented practical problems for the police and the magistrates’ courts in the Keighley Division. The division had become large and busy, but there was no attempt to build a new court house or police station in Keighley. Cases were heard at Keighley Court House and at Bingley Court House and the court offices were located on the Bingley site.

This situation continued until the mid-1980s when, because of rising levels of crime and greater numbers of cases, a prefabricated extension was built at Bingley Court House, increasing the number of court rooms from two to four. The Keighley site continued with two court rooms.

There was regular agitation for a new magistrates’ court house in Keighley to bring all the work on to one site. These pleas came to nothing until the early 1990s when the Government of the day agreed to fund the building of a new court house in Keighley in Scott Street.

Plans were approved and the building contract was ready for signature with a view to the court being opened in 1997. Unfortunately at the 11th hour the scheme was withdrawn. This led to further improvements at Bingley Court House, and ultimately Keighley Court House was closed.

Bingley Court is very busy and, as a result, a lot of work has been allocated to other courts. Similarly, a lot of work from Craven is routinely sent to Harrogate Magistrates’ Court because Skipton only sits for criminal cases on two days each week and once a fortnight for youth cases. Harrogate is a busy court and the court accommodation is limited.

In the press release from the Ministry of Justice announcing the consultation of court closures, one of the reasons given is that a number of courts do not fit the needs of modern communities and their location and number does not reflect recent changes in population, workload or transport and communication links. In the cases of Skipton and Keighley, these considerations do not apply because the population in both areas has increased quite substantially and transport and communication links are good.

The press release goes on to say the Government is committed to supporting local justice. In the case of Skipton, how can there be local justice if the court is located in Harrogate? Justice will not be seen to be done because most people will not be able to travel the considerable distance to get to Harrogate.

The press release adds that magistrates hear the majority of criminal cases and this voluntary contribution will continue to be strongly supported. The magistrates are not being supported if they are being expected to travel, in the Skipton case, to Harrogate and, in the Keighley case, to Bradford. If these proposed closures succeed there is likely to be a significant change in the recruitment and retention of magistrates whose local knowledge is so vital. The press release says we travel further to work, for leisure and to do our weekly shop in a further effort to justify the changes. However, great numbers of court users do not have cars or the means to travel distances. Longer journeys to court also affect victims and witnesses. In youth and family cases, family members, social workers and other interested parties also have to attend.

In a time of austerity such as the present, it is more important than ever that the taxpayer is given value for money. In opposing the present proposals we must be constructive and offer counter proposals which lead to a greater efficiency. We should be considering a more radical approach.

The difficulty for Skipton is that because of the rigid county boundary, the proposal is to close the court and transfer the work to Harrogate. Surely a more sensible suggestion is that Skipton and Keighley should be merged to form a Keighley and Craven Magistrates Division? The Aire Valley is the natural transportation link and the main roads and railways run through the two divisions. Even though Craven is served by North Yorkshire Police, there is no reason other than artificial boundaries why the work from Craven should not be sent to the Keighley area. Another advantage to North Yorkshire Police would be that many of their prisoners could be lodged at Keighley’s new police station, thus saving the police the chore of taking prisoners to Harrogate and sometimes beyond. Those prisoners could then appear at the Keighley and Craven Division Court.

There must be many possible savings by cross border co-operation.

The proposal could be implemented immediately because the Skipton Court House is in good condition. It is modern, has first class witness facilities and a good custody area. The two court rooms at Skipton together with the four court rooms at Bingley would present the new division with six court rooms which should be adequate until more prosperous times return and consideration can be given to a new court house at Keighley. Skipton Court House would then be operated on a daily basis.

A lot of the overspill work which is going presently from Bingley to Bradford and Halifax could be accommodated within the new six court structure. This enterprise would retain local justice and easier access to courts for court users.

We must not forget the county courts. They have existed since the mid-19th century. They perform important judicial functions from the resolution of civil disputes to divorce, matrimonial, child care and other family matters. It is important that they remain on a local basis.

The present proposal is to close Skipton and Keighley County Courts and merge their functions with Bradford. As with the magistrates’ courts, a possibility would be to merge Skipton and Keighley into a Keighley and Craven County Court area. It is vital we retain the county court’s local civil jurisdiction because communities which lose their courts and other important institutions do not function as well as those which retain them.

With good will and ingenuity, it should be possible to restructure the county courts and magistrates courts in Keighley and Craven without the loss of the courts.

That is the challenge for all concerned in this very important consultation.