The UK's busiest court is scheduled for closure.
Lawyers from West Sussex plead with Lord Chancellor Michael Gove to repeal the
shutdown of the Chichester Combined Court.
Chichester Combined Court is the only Crown court in
West Sussex. Local lawyers along with England and Wales had protested with
responses to the Ministry of Justice consultation and expressed their views
regarding the 91 courts scheduled for closure.
The Ministry of Justice listed 91 courts whose
infrastructures included disabled access, security troubles, cramped waiting
areas and poor sanitation facilities. The Chichester Combined Court was built
in 1930 and had increased overhead costs despite lax improvement of facilities.
The cost to operate the Chichester Combined Court amounted to £274,000 by
2014-2015.
The 800,000 population of West Sussex would need to
travel from Chichester to Hastings to have their case heard. The court was near
the city's railway station. Despite encouragement by MoJ staff that travel
times would be shorter, Chichester Pallant Chambers Representative Bill Emerson
considers them inaccurate because it disregards the fact that Sussex residents
would have to travel during peak hours.
Chichester District Law Society President Jayne Fildes
blames increased property prices in Chichester and the value of the city centre
court site were bigger issues rather than the bustling court-work the court
achieves.
