Administration of Justice Act 1964

11 Composition of courts for domestic proceedings

(1) For the purpose of exercising jurisdiction to hear domestic proceedings a magistrates' court for an inner London petty sessions area shall be composed of—

(a) a metropolitan stipendiary magistrate as chairman and one or two lay justices ; or

(b) two or three lay justices;

or, if it is not practicable for such a court to be so composed, the court shall for that purpose be composed of a metropolitan stipendiary magistrate sitting alone; and section 56(2) of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1952 (composition of magistrates' courts for hearing domestic proceedings) shall not apply to a magistrates' court for any such area.

(2) A domestic court for an inner London petty sessions area which includes lay justices shall, so far as practicable, include both a man and a woman.

(3) A domestic court for an inner London petty sessions area shall, in addition to hearing proceedings which (apart from the next following subsection) may be heard by a domestic court for that area, have jurisdiction to hear proceedings which could be heard before a domestic court for any other such area, but shall not exercise the jurisdiction conferred by this subsection except in such cases or classes of case as may be determined by the committee of magistrates.

(4) A magistrates' court for an inner London petty sessions area shall not hear any domestic proceedings if the committee of magistrates so determine.

(5) In this section—

• " domestic court " means a magistrates' court when composed for the purpose of exercising jurisdiction to hear domestic proceedings;

• " domestic proceedings " has the same meaning as in the Magistrates' Courts Act 1952; and

• " inner London petty sessions area " means the City or any petty sessional division of the inner London area.