City of Westminster Magistrates' Court
Encyclopedia
Magistrates' Court
A magistrates' court or court of petty sessions, formerly known as a police court, is the lowest level of court in England and Wales and many other common law jurisdictions...
located at 70 Horseferry Road
Horseferry Road
Horseferry Road is a street in the City of Westminster in central London, England, running between Millbank and Greycoat Place. It is perhaps best known as the site of City of Westminster Magistrates' Court...
, in the City of Westminster
City of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a London borough occupying much of the central area of London, England, including most of the West End. It is located to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and its southern boundary...
, London. It was originally called Horseferry Road Magistrates' Court, after Horseferry Road
Horseferry Road
Horseferry Road is a street in the City of Westminster in central London, England, running between Millbank and Greycoat Place. It is perhaps best known as the site of City of Westminster Magistrates' Court...
where it was sited,. However, it was renamed in July 2006 following the closure of Bow Street Magistrates' Court
Bow Street Magistrates' Court
Bow Street Magistrates' Court was the most famous magistrates' court in England for much of its existence, and was located in various buildings on Bow Street in central London close to Covent Garden throughout its history.-History:...
. It served as the court where the Chief Magistrate of England and Wales sat, and all extradition
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
and terrorism-related cases passed through the court. The court closed permanently on September 22nd 2011, and was replaced on the 27th September 2011 with Westminster Magistrates' Court. This has been built on the site of Marylebone Magistrates' Court at 181 Marylebone Road.
History
The court building, designed by C. A. Legerton and opened in 19741974 in architecture
The year 1974 in architecture involved some significant events.-Buildings:* National Assembly, Dhaka in Bangladesh, designed by Louis Kahn, is completed.* Horseferry Road Magistrates' Court in Westminster, London, designed by C. A...
, was functional and "of minimal personality and minimal expression of function and purpose", according to Pevsner
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, FBA was a German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture...
. It was opened as one of a series of three larger court houses, with the others at Camberwell Green and Highbury Corner. It had four courtrooms as opened and a further four were later added. The central location and proximity to New Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
caused the court to be involved in a number of high profile cases.