The magistrates' courts closure policy in England and Wales: A study of advanced managerialism in practice

This study examines the mass closure of magistrates’ courts in England and Wales. It tracks how the closure policy was formulated, justified and operationalised by successive governments. An advanced managerialist truth regime redefined court buildings as financial assets, identifying multiple courts as ‘surplus’ or ‘inefficient’ and ripe for closure and sale. ‘Consent’ was fabricated through consultation processes, premised on predetermined outcomes. This policy was overlain with government pledges to switch to a tech-justice system, improving access to justice, achieving greater efficiencies and cost effectiveness. Our findings reveal how: court buildings were sold with scant regard to the adverse impact on court users; many of the remaining buildings were allowed to deteriorate; locally accessible justice was undermined and defective technologies failed to deliver. This study contributes to a research agenda that examines the deleterious consequences of sedimenting an advanced managerialist truth regime that is resistant to critique and shielded from scrutiny and accountability.