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The purpose of this site is to give you information about the courts, and about the work we do as magistrates in West Hertfordshire. You may be visiting the site because you have been summoned to appear before the court, because you have a general interest in the criminal justice system, or because you are interested in becoming a magistrate. We hope you will find that this web-site answers your queries.

Both our court-houses, in Watford and Hemel Hempstead, are familiar buildings in the community. This web-site is intended to give you an insight into what happens inside them.

As magistrates, we are drawn from the local community – we understand it because we live and work in it. It is important to us that our work is respected, and that every member of the community understands how justice is administered locally. We hope that this web-site will help you to regard the local courts as an integral part of the community of West Hertfordshire.