Once you know your way around this directory it reveals a great deal of administrative information about courts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Law librarians and lawyers will no doubt be familiar with previous editions of this work, and may be interested to know that certain sections of this edition are significantly different from previous editions. I shall discuss these differences below.
For those unfamiliar with the structure of the court system this directory may appear rather dense, and at first glance its divisions, although entirely logical, may seem rather confusing. However, it really is worth a short investment of time to become familiar with the layout, because as well as being invaluable to practitioners, this directory is also useful for answering general enquiries. For example, it has the answers to questions such as “What time does Bradford Magistrates Court open?” and “What is the telephone number of the Crown Prosecution service in Oldham?”, as well as the less general “Who is the County Court Manager at Crewe?” and “Who are the Circuit Judges on the North Eastern Circuit?”.
The directory is divided into four parts covering the courts, with three appendices dealing with the Crown Prosecution service, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal and penal establishments. Part I covers the appellate courts (the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council and the House of Lords), the supreme courts (for example, the Court of Protection and the various divisions of the High Court) and the Crown Courts. Each entry contains the addresses, telephone, fax and DX numbers of the court, together with its location code number and its group number. The Crown Courts are listed alphabetically within the circuit to which they belong, but there is also an alphabetical index if the circuit is not known. In addition there are lists of the names of Appellate, High Court and Circuit Judges.
Part II contains details of the County Courts in England and Wales in alphabetical order. As well as listing addresses and contact numbers, each entry indicates whether or not the court is a District Registry and whether it has any additional jurisdiction such as bankruptcy or divorce. There is an indication of the circuit to which the court belongs and the presiding District Judges are listed. This is one of the sections that differs from previous editions, retaining the details for County Courts that are now closed and indicating to which courts their jurisdiction is now transferred.
Magistrates Courts in England and Wales are set out in Part III. These are arranged alphabetically within their commission areas, and the courts are indexed alphabetically and by their code number. Entries list the name of the court and its clerk, its address, contact numbers and normal opening times. Some entries also contain addresses for the payment of fines and licensing fees. Courts of summary jurisdiction in Northern Ireland and Scotland are listed separately. At the end of this part there is a gazetteer of places in the Greater London area which is designed to help provincial courts wishing to identify the court in London to which to send warrants or Transfer of Fines orders. Again, Part III differs from previous editions, reflecting the amalgamation of a number of commission areas. Part IV lists the names of coroners and addresses of coroners’ offices, set out alphabetically within their districts: again, there is an alphabetical index if the district is not known.
Appendix I sets out the Crown Prosecution Service areas, listing the details of the branch and sub‐branch offices and indicating the courts that each office covers. Appendix II contains similar information in respect of the Crown Office and the Procurator Fiscal (Scotland). Finally, Appendix III lists the postal addresses, telephone and fax numbers of penal establishments in England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. For England and Wales there are listings of headquarters, local prisons and remand centers, training prisons, young offender institutions and special hospitals. For Northern Ireland, headquarters, prisons and young offenders centers are listed, whilst Scotland covers headquarters, prison service college, prisons, young offender institutions and state hospitals. Within each category there are separate listings for male and female, closed and open prisons. The editor indicates that whilst he has tried to ensure that all the details given are up to date to 1 August 2002, ongoing reorganization of the petty sessional divisions may mean some of the information is subject to change.
Overall, this is a comprehensive and highly useful directory, which is likely to be well used in law libraries and general libraries alike.
