Bedfordshire Archives Service Catalogue
  • Reference
    PS
  • Title
    Petty Sessions/Magistrates Courts
  • Admin/biog history
    The Petty Sessions are a lower court which holds trials for summary offences and preliminary hearings for more serious ones. Some civil matters are also decided, notably family proceedings. From 1872 the courts of petty sessions were also responsible for approving licences to sell alcohol in alehouses and public houses, although this responsibility was transferred to local authorities by the Licensing Act 2003. The first official petty sessions districts for Bedfordshire were created in 1830. These were: Ampthill, Bedford (excluding the Borough), Biggleswade, Bletsoe, Luton and Woburn. Bedford Borough had its own commission of peace thus was entitled to its own bench of magistrates. In 1854 a seventh petty sessions division was created at Leighton Buzzard. Dunstable was granted a commission of the peace in 1866. In 1872 Bletsoe became Sharnbrook. In 1876 Luton was granted borough status, which entitled it to have its own commission of the peace resulting in the creation of the Luton Borough bench of magistrates. Dunstable lost its commission of the peace in 1949 and became a petty sessional division of the county. In 1953 there was a rationalisation in the south of the county with the abolition of Woburn and a reallocation of parishes between the Ampthill, Dunstable, Leighton Buzzard and Luton. In 1969 the county divisions of Dunstable and Luton combined to form the new Dunstable psd. Following the 1972 abolition of the courts of quarter sessions, which were also presided over by magistrates, the courts of petty sessions gradually became synonymous with "magistrates' courts", a term which had previously been used to refer to both the petty and quarter sessions. Magistrates' courts continued to be assigned to "petty sessional divisions" until these were renamed to local justice areas by section 8 of the Courts Act 2003. The Administration of Justice Act 1973 merged the borough and county commissions. The Bedford Borough bench amalgamated with Bedford and Sharnbrook to form the new North Bedfordshire psd (Bedford psd from 1991). The Luton borough bench retained its boundaries and became the new Luton psd. On 1 April 1974 Bedfordshire consisted of 6 psds: Ampthill, Bedford, Biggleswade, Dunstable, Leighton Buzzard and Luton.
  • Reference
  • Level of description
    fonds
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