A new £160m state of the art Civil Justice Centre (CJC) for Manchester has received the green light, following the signing of an Agreement for Lease, between the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) and Allied London Properties Limited (ALP), the developer of the new Spinningfields business quarters.

The new court is being taken forward as a partnership project between the DCA, Allied London Properties Limited and the Manchester City Council. The scheme will greatly enhance court facilities in Manchester, with 47 modern, purpose-built courts planned with up-to-date technology to allow video conferencing. The scheme will also provide another cornerstone of the Council's regeneration of the Spinningfields area of the city centre. It is scheduled to open in early 2007.

Chris Leslie, Courts Minister, said:

"This is a big scheme for a major court centre. This scale of court development has been needed for some time and therefore reflects the importance of Manchester as a regional, commercial and legal centre.

"Our current county court facilities are badly in need of replacement. At the moment 40 per cent of the civil cases that should be heard at Manchester have to be heard at courts elsewhere. This is enormously inconvenient for court users. It is not unusual for families to attend for a highly emotional matter such as divorce or child contact, only to be told at the very last minute that they have to travel to a new hearing centre miles away.

"The overuse of the county court has also had an impact on criminal cases in Manchester, leading to delays in trials as civil cases often have to be heard in the Crown Court."

Leader of Manchester City Council, Councillor Richard Leese said:

"The radical architecture of the Civil Justice Centre keeps Manchester at the forefront of world class urban development.

"Swift and effective court action is vital for a society in which people feel secure and confident. We are proud that our city is working in partnership to deliver this groundbreaking project, which will show that Manchester believes in delivering the best possible quality of life for its residents."

Michael Ingall, Chief Executive of Allied London Properties said:

"Today marks the culmination of two years' work, which has resulted in the creation of a truly world class international building designed for important governmental use procured through best practice. The building will become a landmark and one that we are very proud to be developing.

"The speed at which we are delivering Spinningfields is a testament to the effectiveness of public private partnership as was the procurement of this building in partnership with the Department of Constitutional Affairs as our valued occupier."

The scheme is the culmination of a major business case analysis which looked at a range of options for replacing the current inadequate county court facilities that no longer meet court user needs and is expensive to maintain. Following the business case analysis, a design competition was launched in Easter 2002 to invite leading architects to submit proposals to fulfil the accommodation design brief that had been drawn up.

The winning design by Melbourne-based signature architects Denton Corker Marshall represents the first landmark scheme of its size undertaken for the Court Service since the Royal Courts of Justice in London project in 1878.

Chris Leslie said: "I know that some people will question the scale of this development. However, this scheme follows very careful assessment of the current and projected workload of civil court work in Greater Manchester. We already have to move cases away from the city and eat into Crown Court accommodation, and our research indicates that demand will continue to rise over the next two decades before levelling off.

"One of the strengths of the scheme we have is that it allows for future expansion. We will also be able to accommodate other hearings, such as public inquiries, given the size of some of the courtrooms and state of the art technology available."

Purpose-built accommodation will be created for the very different facilities required of a modern civil court. Smaller hearing rooms for more intimate cases such as family disputes through to high-tech facilities for major commercial cases involving international companies will be available.

The signing of the Agreement for Lease means that work can begin on turning the plans into bricks and mortar. Work on site is expected to commence in two weeks' time.

Press enquiries:
Janine Watson MCC. Head of Press, Manchester City Council, 0161 234 3337

Kathryn Montague, DCA Press Office, 020 7210 1397

Michael Ingall, Chief Executive, Allied London Properties Limited, 0207 486 6080

Notes for Editors:

1	Electronic copies of the technical drawing are available from Allied London Properties
2	The Department will contribute £35 million to the scheme
3	For further details of the Spinningfields site regeneration, please see the City Council's website

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