Reform of Local Justice Areas

The Ministry of Justice and the Senior Judiciary consulted on proposals for the future administrative structure of the magistracy following Parliament’s decision to abolish Local Justice Areas (LJAs). The consultation sought views on how essential magistrates’ functions—including recruitment, deployment, leadership and training—should operate once statutory LJA boundaries are removed.

The consultation ran from 31 March 2025 to 23 June 2025. We received 1,428 responses from magistrates across jurisdictions, Bench Chairs, legal advisers, court users, representative bodies and members of the public. All responses were carefully considered and we have now reached final decisions on the proposals. This publication sets out the conclusions in light of the feedback received.

Full details of the government response, including the revised Equalities Statement, Welsh Language Impact Assessment, are published on this page.

Original consultation

Summary

This public consultation seeks views on proposals to replace the current organisation of magistrates’ courts following the abolition of Local Justice Areas.

This consultation was held on another website.

This consultation ran from
11:15am on 31 March 2025 to 11:59pm on 23 June 2025

Consultation description

Update September 2025:

This consultation closed on 23 June 2025 and received over 1,400 responses. Due to the large volume of feedback received, analysis is still ongoing. A final joint response from the government and judiciary will be published in due course.

The Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022 legislated to abolish the system of Local Justice Areas (LJAs) to facilitate greater efficiency in the administration and operation of magistrates’ courts. This consultation, developed jointly between HMG and Judicial Office, sets out proposals for a new structure following LJA abolition. It also seeks views on proposed changes to magistrates’ training and leadership arrangements which are currently organised around LJAs.

This consultation is primarily aimed at magistrates in England and Wales who will be impacted by these proposals, but we also welcome views from other individuals or groups with a particular interest in the magistracy as well as from members of the public more broadly.

Documents