Part 5Miscellaneous

Court security

79 Duty of Court Service to ensure court security

1

The Court Service must take all reasonable steps to ensure the security of every relevant court-house (including every courtroom contained in it) and the safety of everyone who is there.

2

To comply with that duty the Court Service must secure that there are provided at every relevant court-house an appropriate number of court security officers.

3

For the purposes of this section and sections 80 and 81 the following are court security officers—

a

members of staff of the Court Service designated as court security officers, and

b

persons employed as court security officers in pursuance of arrangements made with their employers by the Court Service under section 69 of the Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1978 (c. 23).

4

A court-house is a relevant court-house for the purposes of this section and section 80 if—

a

the Court of Appeal,

b

the High Court,

c

the Crown Court,

d

a county court,

e

a coroner’s court, or

f

a magistrates’ court,

sits there.