About Her Majesty’s Courts Service (HMCS)
We have provided a very detailed Glossary to describe the meaning
of words concerning this section which can be accessed under the
heading Glossary of Terms on our front
page.
From 1st April 2005 the management of all courts: civil, criminal
and family (with the exception of the House of Lords) in England
and Wales, were integrated to form a single, unified organisation.
HMCS replaced the Court Service and the 42 Magistrates Courts
Committees.
If you are convicted in the Magistrates' Courts, you would receive
a financial penalty which is payable to the Magistrates Court.
The Magistrates Courts, under HMCS, do not employ bailiffs. Instead,
they employ their own civilian enforcement officers (CEO’s
or warrant officers) to execute warrants of arrests. All Distress
Warrants, and some arrest warrants as well, are dealt with
by Contractors (bailiffs) that are contracted to HMCS by the Department
for Constitutional
Affairs (Ministry of Justice) under the Terms of the 2003 Courts
Act.
Details of these Bailiff Companies are listed on the following page.
If you do not pay a fine, a Distress Warrant
may be sent to an approved private enforcement company [also known
as bailiffs] to deal with. If this happens, you will have to incur
additional fees to the private enforcement
company.
If the bailiff is collecting an unpaid Magistrates
Court Fine, under the Courts Act 2003, he will be able
to clamp your car, under what is called a Clamping
Order.
He cannot clamp or remove your vehicle unless he has a Clamping
Order which must contain the vehicle details. Further information
is provided under the section entitled Clamping Orders ( details on the left hand side of this page)
The bailiff cannot take a vehicle that is not in your name.
NOTE:
We now have a Help Line available on: 0906 550 0145 For further details see the Contact Us page.
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