Future of Limavady courthouse hangs in limbo while being considered in future wider estate review

A County Derry courthouse is currently being considered as part of data-based review of the NI Courts and Tribunals Service estate.

Limavady court has not been in use since the Covid lockdown in March 2020. The court was previously used for hearings of Magistrates court and was in session one day a week. Business has since been referred to Coleraine courthouse.

Last year Justice Minister Naomi Long estimated the cost of addressing the ‘condition-based maintenance issues’ at the facility in the town stood at approximately £700,000.

In Stormont this week Independent MLA Claire Sugden asked the Minister for an update on the future of the Limavady premises.

The MLA questioned the Minister saying: “One of my biggest concerns about courthouses across Northern Ireland is access to Justice primarily. Also the impact it will have on rural areas in terms of removing courthouses. So as part of this review will the Minister look at an impact assessment to ensure that we are taking into account all the various aspects as to why not having a courthouse is a good thing.”

Ms. Long answered saying: “We have to make sure courthouses are accessible in the most basic sense, and many of them are not fit for purpose unfortunately. Many of the protections which we would wish to put in place for vulnerable victims and witnesses are not possible. Everyone enters at the same door at the front of the courthouse, so we are not able to do the segregation that we expect like some of our most recent purpose built facilities.

“Limavady courthouse has been closed since March 2020, with its business currently transferred to Coleraine. Prior to the building's closure, it operated as a hearing centre and was open one day a week for the delivery of Magistrates’ Court business,

“The NICTS’s estate strategy, published in December 2023, provided a long-term framework for investment over the next decade and beyond, she said.

“To implement the strategy, the NICTS is using data and evidence to baseline the existing estate against the agreed strategic outcomes; assess the adequacy of its buildings; and, in the context of the finite resources available, develop prioritised investment plans that will be subject to public consultation, as appropriate. The future use of Limavady courthouse forms part of that process.”

Ms Long characterised Limavady courthouse as ‘the smallest courthouse’ in the court's estate.

“Since 2002, it has heard only adult Magistrates' Court business. In 2023-24, only 476 cases were received by Limavady Magistrates' Court, and, historically, it has had the lowest business volumes in the court estate, which is one of the reasons why it was previously open for only a single day each week,” she observed.