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Victoria Law Courts

An interior shot of court #3 in 1905. Viv
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Strange - it comes up OK for me. And nice pic!

My thumbnail mentions "attachments pending approval". Whether that has anything to do with anything, I don't know.

Chris

PS I have taken the liberty of re-posting it below. Does this help others to open it?
 
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As far as I'm aware (I work for Ministry of Justice) the plans to build a new court centre encompassing all the courts (Mags/Crown/County & tribunal) have been shelved in order to meet the targets given in the spendingh review.

There were a number of suggestions as to what to do with Victoria Law courts after the move, including selling it off for development into bars/restaurants. the difficulty is that as well as the building some of the court rooms are also protected.

Another suggestion was for ownership to be passed to Birmingham College of Law for it to be used for training and posssibly an advocacy acadamy.

However it seems no move is going to take place in the near future.
 
My vote would go to the Birmingham College of Law as an academy - what a good idea. Don't think the City needs more bars and restaurants, especially in a recession. Viv.
 
As far as I'm aware (I work for Ministry of Justice) the plans to build a new court centre encompassing all the courts (Mags/Crown/County & tribunal) have been shelved in order to meet the targets given in the spendingh review.

There were a number of suggestions as to what to do with Victoria Law courts after the move, including selling it off for development into bars/restaurants. the difficulty is that as well as the building some of the court rooms are also protected.

Another suggestion was for ownership to be passed to Birmingham College of Law for it to be used for training and posssibly an advocacy acadamy.

However it seems no move is going to take place in the near future.

Steve

An interesting post, I think it would be quite wrong if the old courts were turned over for development as bars and restaurants, one thing is sure they would have plenty of cellar space. I think the second suggestion of a Birmingham College of Law would be ideal, or even an attachment to Aston University.

Phil
 
I agree, handing it over as a 'leisure' development would be a crying shame. The law acadamy is the prefered idea, trouble is the place is extremely expensive to operate (around 4mil per year).
As it stands though, it is going to remain as Court of law. It's possible the Crown court could move back in. Either way, there needs to be quite a bit spent on doing up the cells as they are not upto standard!
 
This is a wonderful building and the exterior has always impressed me, but having been inside a few times regarding my divorce and maintenance and access issues, it is not very convenient with many steps and passageways, I cannot comment on the cells as I have never seen them, I would think it would be very difficult to convert it to other uses and think the idea of a Law Academy would be a very good idea, and much larger than the present Law School building in Great Hampton Street/Row?
 
I agree, handing it over as a 'leisure' development would be a crying shame. The law acadamy is the prefered idea, trouble is the place is extremely expensive to operate (around 4mil per year).
As it stands though, it is going to remain as Court of law. It's possible the Crown court could move back in. Either way, there needs to be quite a bit spent on doing up the cells as they are not upto standard!

Hi All,

Why should the Crown Court move back in? They are in a building that is only a few years old and was purpose built? As for the cells they are only hollding cells. When prisoners who have been kept in custody either at Steelhouse Lane Police Station or Winson Green Prison are due to appear in court they are taken from Steelhouse Lane Police Station through an underground passage to the area under the Viictoria Law Courts. They then wait in the holding cells until their case is called. They are only there for a few hours at the most,

As for the courts themselves they have been allowed to deteriorate. They used to be the responsibility of the police. A Chief Inspector lived on the premises in a flat with his family and acted as curator. He saw to it that everything was maintained as it should be. Nowadays no one seems to have the responsibilty to ensure that everything is clean and kept in good repair. Hence, the courts are gradually disintegrating.

Old Boy
 
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hi old boy well how interesting...i did not know about the underground passage or the fact that the courts used to have a live in chief inspector....this is no way to treat such a fine building...i sometimes just give up....

lyn
 
Hi old boy
a you saying that from th old victoria law courts from steel house lane they actualy built an under ground tunnel across from the the victoria
to the moderern dat day new victoria courts the courts hey built afew years back ; i know of the history of th orinional law courts
and the under round channels below ground which goes from one end of he courts in steel house lane
which is way below ground level to take prisoners up to any given court witin the complex from steel house lane
and that number one and two courts was the major court rooms for big seriuos cases and was used by judge argly
the most feared judge in the days they called the quarter sessions and of course the cadbury family
and for hanging cases and it also the designed of cells below ground and yes the chief used to be a care taker there in days gone bye
but i am surprized to hear that they built an extended tunnel across the road to the new victoria courts
and es my family ancesters was some body in he legal sysem of birminghamand my gand paents was connected to the central law courts as i said afew years ago now as they served the birmingham courts of high postion as my grand father was a serving police oficier and the oher side of my grand parent hood was a serving judges and in specal cases of being serving certain jurriors for certain cases and certain uncles was solictors
with in birmingham in the early years right up until the fifties
and with in the city houseing dept ment of the old bush house early years so i do know alot of the history of birmingham central courts
and to think they are going to sell off this fantasic building of hearitage and history of birmingham for a gym
whom his responible for that i would like to know ;personaly we did not need that new court they built a waste of public money ;
and the planning department wants to reorganise themselves astonian
 
Well as it stands it is not going to be sold off and will remain as a court building.

We would potentially move the crown court back in as a bid to cut costs. QEII law courts was purpose built for the Crown, however it is not a protected building and so would be easier to change the use of it.

The cells at Victoria law courts may well be holding cells but they must still meet certain standards, the ones at Victoria do not come up to those strandards. To put it into perspective, a day in court cells is usually counted as a day in prison, however the conditions at Victoria are so bad that prisoners spending a day in them are creditted with 2 days in prison to take into account the poor living conditions. Although prisoners are not routinely held over night in court cells, it is possible for them to be in them for many hours, especially if produced from the prisons early, and kept till late evening at court.
 
hi steve
what is the difference between the two cells i presume they have a toillet facil;
and a bench from the old victoria to the new courts they are locked in there for a reason it should not be like a hotel lobby of confort
and the old vic will stand emty and deteriate or are we just keeping it for its capicity of number of prisoners it can hold
over the old vic and steel house lane for any other purpose than that as it holds a large capicity i know it must be about two hundred
but then you may say its heating problems as to why it moved yes the old vic does look like old dungeons
 
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No they don't have a toilet in the cell, they have to ask to use a toilet and are then escorted to the block. Victoria Law courts are going to be kept as a going concern for the forceable future. the initial plan was to put all the courts together in a court centre or 'super court' as it was being referred to. The MoJ still has massive savings to make, a big chunk of the money is spent on buildings, therfore the pressure is on to reduce the number of buildings. There are 4 seperate court buildings in Birmingham and the MoJ is looking at ways to cut those costs. One way would be to move the crown court from QE to Victoria and then sell off the QE building.
I'm not sure on cell capacity, it certain olds quite a few. I agree that the prisoners are locked in for a reason however, the cells have to be upto scratch, there is an independant board of inspectors, made up of volunteers from the commuinty and they inspect all custody cells. The cells have to meet guidlaines laid down by the Human Rights convention and various other legislation. I'm not saying I agree with it, that just how it is.

I hope Victoria Law courts goes on for many years as court of law.
 
hi steve and thanks for all the info..i am finding this most interesting...and i too hope this wondful building will continue to be used for the purpose for which it was built

lyn
 
Hi Astonian,

You seem to have misread my post. I did not say that there was a passage from Steelhouse Lane Police Station to the new court which, by the way, is named Queen Eliizabeth Courts not Victoria Courts. The passage goes from Steelhouse Lane to the Victoria Law Courts which, in reality, are only next door.

Old Boy
 
HI OLD BOY
I Think we are getting crossed wires here i always knew about that i said this thread about four years ago
i did not dream there was a tunnel across town to your new queen victoria courts it would have been one hell of a job ;
and it was common knowledge of this to every body about the passage way ;
have a nice day best wishes astonian
 
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Chris,
Having passed through from Steelhouse Lane,to the court (a long time ago),I do remember the size of the cells,but not the route taken,and I was not appreciative of the historical surroundings.My mind was racing with what lies I would tell the magistrate,to make sure I was bailed and walked out the front door.:rolleyes:.
 
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