Administration of Justice Act 1964

Part I — Greater London

The Central Criminal Court

Jurisdiction and sessions of Central Criminal Court

1

Commissions and justices of the peace

The London commission areas

2

Power to adjust London commission areas

3

• (1) Her Majesty may by Order in Council substitute for any one or more of the areas specified in subsection (1) of section 2 of this Act any other area or areas comprising the whole or part of Greater London, or alter the boundaries of any area so specified ; but the City shall not by virtue of any such Order be included in an area for which a commission of the peace is issued under the said subsection (1).

• (2) An Order in Council under this section may contain such incidental, consequential, transitional or supplementary provisions as may be necessary or expedient for the purposes of the Order (including provisions amending this Act or any other enactment).

• (3) Any statutory instrument made by virtue of this section shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

Quarter sessions

Whole-time chairmen and deputy chairmen

4

County court judges as deputy chairmen

5

• (1) The Lord Chancellor may appoint any county court judge for a district wholly or partly situated in Greater London to act during such period or on such occasions as the Lord Chancellor thinks fit as deputy chairman of the court or courts of quarter sessions for one or more of the London commission areas.

• (2) The limit imposed by section 4(1) of the County Courts Act 1959 on the total number of county court judges shall be increased from eighty to ninety and the number of judges who may be assigned to a district under section 4(4) of that Act shall, in the case of a district situated wholly or partly in a London commission area, be increased from two to three.

• (3) Every county court judge for the time being assigned to a district wholly or partly situated in a London commission area shall by virtue of his office be a justice of the peace for each of those areas; and section 11 of the County Courts Act 1959 (which provides for including county court judges in the commission of the peace for a county or borough in their district) shall not apply in relation to any of the London commission areas.

• (4) The Greater London Council shall, subject to subsection (5) of this section, pay to the Lord Chancellor by way of contribution towards the salary of a county court judge who has been appointed to act as deputy chairman of a court or courts of quarter sessions under this section, and towards the pension and other benefits payable under the Administration of Justice (Pensions) Act 1950 in respect of the service as a county court judge of a person who has so acted, such sums at such times as the Lord Chancellor may, after consultation with the Greater London Council and with the consent of the Treasury, determine.

• (5) Contributions shall not be required to be made under subsection (4) of this section in respect of any county court judges in excess of the relevant limit for any period during which that limit is exceeded; and for the purposes of this subsection the relevant limit at any time is a number equal to the difference between twenty-five and the number of whole-time deputy chairmen at that time of all the courts of quarter sessions for the London commission areas.

Temporary deputy chairmen

6

• (1) If it appears to the Lord Chancellor that it is expedient to do so in order to avoid delays in disposing of the business of the court of quarter sessions for a London commission area, he may appoint a person qualified to be a deputy chairman of the court to act as such during such period or on such occasions as the Lord Chancellor thinks fit.

• (2) The Greater London Council shall pay to any person appointed under this section such remuneration as the Lord Chancellor may, after consultation with the Greater London Council and with the consent of the Treasury, determine.

Proceedings and jurisdiction of quarter sessions

7

• (1) The court of quarter sessions for a London commission area may sit in more than one division simultaneously, and may sit at any place within Greater London or an adjoining county, notwithstanding that the place is not within the area for which the court is set up; and for the purposes of this subsection a county borough surrounded by or adjoining a county shall be treated as forming part of that county.

• (2) Section 4(1) of the Criminal Justice Administration Act 1962 (times for holding quarter sessions) shall apply to the court of quarter sessions for a London commission area as it applies to a court of quarter sessions for a county elsewhere in England and Wales.

• (3) For the purposes of section 2 of the Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1938 (extended jurisdiction of quarter sessions) and of this section a person shall be deemed to be a legally qualified chairman in relation to the court of quarter sessions for a London commission area if he is a whole-time chairman or deputy chairman of that or of another such court or is a person appointed to act as deputy chairman of that court under section 5 or 6 of this Act, and not otherwise.

• (4) The court of quarter sessions for a London commission area shall not be properly constituted for the purpose of any sitting unless a legally qualified chairman of the court is present and presiding, and in the case of the court of quarter sessions for any such area the Lord Chancellor may direct that the court or any division of the court shall, for the purpose of dealing with persons committed to the court for trial, persons committed to the court under section 5 of the Vagrancy Act 1824 or persons committed to the court for sentence or order by any court other than a juvenile court, be held before a legally qualified chairman of the court sitting alone.

• (5) Section 4(5) of the Criminal Justice Administration Act 1962 (power of legally qualified chairman to sit alone if no other members of the court are available) shall apply to the court of quarter sessions for a London commission area as it applies to a court of quarter sessions for a county elsewhere in England and Wales.

• (6) Subject to subsection (4) of this section, and to any directions given thereunder, the court of quarter sessions for a London commission area when sitting for the purpose of—

• (a) hearing appeals of any description ;

• (b) hearing applications under section 21 of the Firearms Act 1937; or

• (c) dealing with persons committed for sentence or order,

shall be constituted in like manner and in accordance with the like arrangements as a court of quarter sessions for a county elsewhere in England and Wales when sitting for the like purpose; and section 8 of the Summary Jurisdiction (Appeals) Act 1933 shall cease to have effect.

• (7) The powers of the court of quarter sessions for a London commission area under section 84(3) of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1952 (extension of (time for appealing) shall be exercised by a legally qualified chairman of the court.

Clerks of the peace and other officers

8

• (1) It shall be the duty of the court of quarter sessions for each London commission area to appoint a clerk of the peace for that area, a deputy clerk of the peace for that area and such other officers of the court as may be determined by the court after consultation with the Greater London Council to be necessary.

• (2) A person shall not be qualified to be appointed a clerk of the peace for a London commission area unless he is a barrister or solicitor of not less than five years' standing.

• (3) The salaries and other terms and conditions of service of the clerk of the peace and the deputy clerk of the peace for a London commission area and the other officers of the court of quarter sessions for such an area, and the grades in which those other officers are employed, shall be such as may from time to time be determined by the court after consultation with the Greater London Council.

• (4) The sums payable by way of salary or expenses to the said clerks and other officers, together with any employer's contributions payable in respect of those officers under the National Insurance Acts 1946 to 1963, shall be paid by the Greater London Council.

• (5) The salary paid to the clerk of the peace for a London commission area shall be deemed to be remuneration for all business which he may by reason of his office of clerk of the peace be called upon to perform, and all fees and costs payable to the clerk of the peace, except any fees and costs expressly excluded when his salary is determined, shall, in accordance with such directions as may be given by the Greater London Council, be accounted for and paid to the Council.

• (6) If the Greater London Council are aggrieved by any determination of a court of quarter sessions under this section, or if the clerk of the peace for a London commission area is aggrieved by any such determination with respect to his salary, the Council or the clerk, as the case may be, may appeal to the Secretary of State.

• (7) The clerk of the peace and the deputy clerk of the peace for a London commission area and the other officers of the court of quarter sessions for such an area shall be treated for the purposes of section 75 of the London Government Act 1963 as if they were whole-time officers of the Greater London Council.

• (8) The Minister of Housing and Local Government may by regulations provide that the Local Government Superannuation Acts 1937 to 1953 and any regulations made thereunder shall apply, subject to such adaptations, modifications, and exceptions as may be prescribed by the regulations, to clerks of the peace and deputy clerks of the peace for a London commission area and other officers of the court of quarter sessions for such an area or to any class of such officers; and any such regulations may make different provision with respect to different classes of officers and may contain such incidental, consequential or supplementary provisions as appear to the Minister to be necessary or expedient.

• (9) Any regulations under subsection (8) of this section shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

• (10) The Local Government (Clerks) Act 1931, except sections 4(5) and (7) and 5(2) and (3), shall not apply to a London commission area or the clerk or deputy clerk of the peace thereof.

• (11) The Recorders, Stipendiary Magistrates, and Clerks of the Peace Act 1906 shall not apply in relation to a London commission area.

Summary jurisdiction in inner London

Integration of jurisdiction of stipendiary and lay magistrates

9

Metropolitan stipendiary magistrates

10

• (1) Metropolitan stipendiary magistrates shall be appointed by Her Majesty and Her Majesty shall from time to time appoint such number of persons as is necessary, but the number of metropolitan stipendiary magistrates shall not at any time exceed forty.

• (2) A person shall not be qualified to be appointed a metropolitan stipendiary magistrate unless he is a barrister or solicitor of not less than seven years' standing.

• (3) The Lord Chancellor shall designate one of the metropolitan stipendiary magistrates to be the chief metropolitan stipendiary magistrate.

• (4) The following provisions shall apply to each metropolitan stipendiary magistrate, that is to say—

• (a) he shall by virtue of his office be a justice of the peace for each of the London commission areas and for the counties of Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey;

• (b) he shall not during his continuance in office practise as a barrister or solicitor;

• (c) he may be removed from office by the Lord Chancellor for inability or misbehaviour.

• (5) A metropolitan stipendiary magistrate who is by virtue of his office a justice of the peace for any area mentioned in paragraph (a) of subsection (4) of this section shall not by reason only of his being a justice of the peace for that area by virtue of that office—

• (a) act as a member of a court of quarter sessions for that area; or

• (b) be qualified to be chosen under section 13(2) of the Justices of the Peace Act 1949 as chairman or deputy chairman of the justices for a petty sessional division of that area or to vote under that subsection at the election of any such chairman or deputy chairman.

• (6) The Lord Chancellor may assign metropolitan stipendiary magistrates to petty sessional divisions constituted under section 14 of this Act and may alter any assignment under this subsection, but the assignment of a magistrate to a particular division shall not preclude him from exercising jurisdiction for any other division of the inner London area.

• (7) Metropolitan stipendiary magistrates shall sit at such courthouses provided for the inner London area under the following provisions of this Act, on such days and at such times as may be determined by or in accordance with directions given by the Lord Chancellor from time to time.

• (8) The chief metropolitan stipendiary magistrate shall cause to be held at least once in every quarter of a year a meeting of all the metropolitan stipendiary magistrates or such of them as are able to attend and, if present, shall preside over the meeting.

Composition of courts for domestic proceedings

11

Composition of juvenile courts

12

• (1) . . . and Part II of that Schedule shall apply accordingly to the inner London area and the City subject to the following provisions of this section.

• (2) In paragraph 15 of the said Schedule 2 for any reference to a justice or justices of the peace for the county of London there shall be substituted a reference to a lay justice or justices for the inner London area.

• (3) The functions of the Secretary of State under the said Part II with respect to the nomination or selection of the chairmen and other members of the youth courts shall be transferred to the Lord Chancellor, and accordingly for any reference to the Secretary of State in paragraphs 15, 16 and 18 of the said Schedule 2 there shall be substituted a reference to the Lord Chancellor.

The committee of magistrates

13

Establishment of petty sessional divisions

14

• (1) The Secretary of State may, on the recommendation of or after consultation with the committee of magistrates, by order make provision for the division of the inner London area or any part thereof into petty sessional divisions.

• (2) It shall be the duty of the committee of magistrates from time to time and also when directed to do so by the Secretary of State to take into consideration the division of the inner London area into petty sessional divisions and to recommend to the Secretary of State (giving reasons for their recommendation) whether or not to make any changes in those divisions and, if changes are recommended, what changes; and the Secretary of State shall not act otherwise than in accordance with any recommendations under this subsection except after consultation with the committee.

• (3) An order under this section may contain transitional and other consequential provisions.

Appointment of justices' clerks and other officers

15

• (1) It shall be the duty of the committee of magistrates, subject to the following provisions of this section, to appoint—

• (a) a principal chief clerk for the inner London area, one or more chief clerks for each petty sessional division of that area and one or more chief clerks for the juvenile courts for that area and the City ; and

• (b) such deputy chief clerks and other officers as may be necessary;

and the committee shall, where there is more than one chief clerk for such a division or for those courts, designate one of them to be the senior chief clerk for that division or all those courts, as the case may be.

• (2) The officers mentioned in subsection (1)(a) of this section shall rank as justices' clerks and be treated as such for the purposes of the enactments relating to justices' clerks.

• (3) The principal chief clerk shall assist the chief metropolitan stipendiary magistrate to perform the latter's duty under section 13(6) of this Act of carrying on the day to day administration of the magistrates' courts in the inner London area.

• (4) The justices' clerks and deputy chief clerks mentioned in subsection (1) of this section shall not be appointed or dismissed by the committee of magistrates without the approval of the Secretary of State, and—

• (a) the committee shall inform the Secretary of State of the age, qualification and experience of any person proposed to be appointed such a clerk and, if the Secretary of State so requires, of any other person offering himself for the appointment;

• (b) before approving the dismissal of any such clerk the Secretary of State, shall consider any representations made to him by the clerk.

• (5) The number of justices' clerks and of other officers employed by the committee of magistrates in each grade below that of principal chief clerk, the grades in which such officers below that of deputy chief clerk are to be employed and the terms and conditions of employment of all officers employed by the committee shall be such as may from time to time be determined by the committee.

• (6) The following provisions of this subsection shall have effect with respect to determinations under subsection (5) of this section and related matters:—

• (a) no such determination shall have effect unless confirmed with or without modifications, by the Secretary of State ;

• (b) the committee of magistrates shall not make or refuse to make any such determination with respect to terms and conditions of employment except after consultation with persons appearing to the committee to represent the interests of the officers affected ;

• (c) any refusal of the Committee to make any such determination with respect to any terms and conditions of employment may be reviewed by the Secretary of State and on the review the Secretary of State may confirm the refusal or make such determination with respect to those terms and conditions as he thinks fit;

• (d) in the case of any matter which falls to be determined under the said subsection (5) and affects officers employed by the committee who immediately before 1st April 1965—

• (i) were clerks or other officers of metropolitan stipendiary courts; or

• (ii) were justices' clerks or officers employed by the magistrates' courts committee for the county of London,