Calls for Government to close Richmond court instead of Kingston (From Surrey Comet)

Magistrates press Government to close Richmond court instead of Kingston

7:00am Saturday 1st January 2011 in Save Kingston Magistrates By Martin George

Magistrates press Government to close Richmond court instead of Kingston

Magistrates will press the Lord Chancellor to consider closing Richmond Magistrates’ Court in a late bid to save Kingston’s court.

On December 14, the Government announced Kingston was one of 93 magistrates’ courts to close next year in a bid to save money.

Richmond Court has a £1.7m backlog of repairs, nearly ten times Kingston’s £168,000, and costs 50 per cent more to run, but was not included in the court closure consultation.

A senior Kingston magistrate said: “I have come across magistrates who sit there and know what sort of state it is in and how much it will cost, who said 'I don’t know why they close Kingston and leave Richmond open'.”

They plan to write to Lord Chancellor Kenneth Clarke, asking him to re-examine the decision of justice minister Jonathan Djanogly.

They are also examining inconsistencies between the 10 courts originally slated for closure but reprieved, and those that will shut.

They questioned why Waltham Forest, which was backed by cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith, stayed open despite costing more to run than Kingston.

The magistrates also asked why the Newbury court, where David Cameron’s mother served as a magistrate for 30 years, survived.

The bench is considering launching a judicial review, a legal mechanism to challenge decisions made by public authorities.

However, usual grounds of judicial review are illegality, fairness or irrationality, a threshold the Public Law Project describes as “extremely difficult to meet”.

Prospects of such a bid getting underway were also dealt a blow when Kingston Council said it was unlikely to fund any legal battle.

A spokesman said: “The closure comes at a time when Kingston is under even greater financial strain after an uncompromising financial settlement, and the loss of future revenue is an added blow.

“Current legislation may not allow for an statutory right of appeal to the Lord Chancellor, as was the case when the court was threatened with closure previously, in which case a judicial review could be undertaken.

“The council would have to carefully consider such action, as the process holds an uncertain prospect of success and would be an expensive undertaking.”

Both the borough’s MPs pledged to support any efforts to save the court, but said whether to launch a judicial review was a matter for the council, and sounded a pessimistic note about the chances of success.