Statute Law Repeals - Law Commission - Ministry of Justice

GROUP 1 - CORNWALL
Bodmin assizes
5.3 Up until 1836 the county assizes and gaol delivery for Cornwall had been held
alternately at Launceston and Bodmin. From 1838 onwards civil and criminal
trials were centralised at Bodmin. This, however, necessitated rebuilding the
shire hall and acquiring suitable premises for judges’ lodgings. The Bodmin
Assizes Act 1836 2 was designed to enhance the improvement powers in the
more general County buildings Act 1826 3 by affording the county justices power
to acquire land and existing buildings (then in ownership of Bodmin corporation)
with a view to demolition and rebuilding of the shire hall, incorporating
accommodation for assize hearings and quarter sessions, and the provision of
lodgings for the assize judges. The 1836 Act also empowered the justices to levy
a special county rate and to raise moneys by loan to fund the project. Once
complete the buildings were to be vested in the justices as trustees.
5.4 The Bodmin Assize Hall (in Mount Folly Square) was used for court hearings until
1988. Now known as Shire House the buildings are occupied by Bodmin Town
Council.
GROUP 2 - CUMBRIA
Carlisle county court
5.5 Since “time immemorial” 4 the county assizes for Cumberland had convened in the
Carlisle guildhall but, by 1807, those premises had become unhealthy and wholly
inadequate. The engineer and architect to the county justices advised that the
most appropriate site for re-accommodating the court was that adjoining the
county gaol and city wall and citadel (which land was vested in the King in right of
his crown). Parliamentary authority was required to effect the transfer of title in
the land and to raise moneys through the county rate. The Cumberland County
Court Act 1807 5 permitted the necessary transfer to the county justices (acting
through quarter sessions), the letting of contracts to build a new shire hall and
court houses, and the use of compulsory purchase powers to acquire other land
both for the project and to create a more open approach to the complex and the
city generally.
5.6 Today the citadel tower (built 1810-12) is used by Cumbria County Council as
offices. It no longer has a court function. The castle itself houses the King’s Own
Royal Border Regiment museum in Queen Mary’s Tower.
2 6 & 7 Will.4 c.xii (1836).
3 7 Geo.4 c.63 (1826), repealed in 1971.
4 The expression “from time immemorial”- a time beyond memory - in the context of local
customs means in English law a time preceding the year 1189 (the commencement of the
reign of Richard 1). Whether the King’s courts had sat in Carlisle from before that date is
probably unknown. The present Guildhall Museum building dates from 1407.
5 47 Geo.3 Sess.2 c.xxxii (1807).
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