THE use of Winchester Guildhall as courtrooms is due to cease soon.

Rooms in the Guildhall have been used for civil cases since the Covid lockdown in 2020, allowing for better social distancing at the Law Courts at The Castle.

It was a temporary return to the period leading up to the 1970s when the building was used during the Winchester Assizes, before the opening of the Law Courts in 1974.

Richard Botham, strategic director at Winchester City Council, said: "We can confirm Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service will be vacating the Guildhall at the end of March.

"Winchester City Council has been pleased to be able to support the organisation as they operated as a Nightingale Law Court during the pandemic.

"Although the building remains closed to the public, preparation to reopen some function rooms for private hire is now taking place, with more information available very soon. Shoal café and Winchester Visitor Information Centre remain open for business."

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) plans to close 11 nightingale courts within weeks but keep 12 others open for another year.

Temporary courts set up to cope with the backlog of court cases during the Covid-19 pandemic in Winchester, Middlesbrough, Peterborough, Nottingham, Warwick, Manchester, Liverpool, Bolton and Chester are all due to be shut down at the end of the month.

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Others in Maidstone, Chichester, Telford, Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Leeds, Swansea, Cirencester and Fleetwood will all remain open until March 2023 as part of efforts to reduce the number of outstanding court cases waiting to be dealt with.

Justice minister James Cartlidge said: “Nightingale courts continue to be a valuable weapon in the fight against the pandemic’s unprecedented impact on our courts, providing temporary extra capacity.

“Combined with other measures – such as removing the cap on crown court sitting days, more use of remote hearings, and increasing magistrate sentencing powers – we are beginning to see the backlog drop so victims can get the speedier justice they deserve.”

 

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