Court security officer (England and Wales)


A court security officer is, in England and Wales, a person employed by either the Lord Chancellor/Secretary of State for Justice or a private company as a "court officer" and designated by the Lord Chancellor under section 51 of the Courts Act 2003:

Powers

Court security officers may search people as they enter the court and remove them if they refuse to be searched.
They can also remove people in order to enable court business to be carried on without interference or delay, maintain order and secure the safety of any person in the court building. Reasonable force may be used in exercise of these powers.
Officers may ask a person to surrender property if they believe it may jeopardise the maintenance of order in the court, put the safety of any person in the court building at risk, or may be evidence of, or in relation to, an offence. Property that was taken for one of the first two reasons must be returned as the person leaves the court; property seized because it may be evidence of, or in relation to, an offence may be kept for up to 24 hours to enable a police constable to deal with it.
Court security officers may only exercise their powers when they are "readily identifiable", and assaulting or obstructing a court security officer in execution of his duties is an offence.

Duties

According to the Ministry of Justice , their Court Security Officers have the following duties:
According to the HMCTS, in 2018:

Officers

Court Security Officers may be Civil Servants who work for the Ministry of Justice - Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service, or they may work for a private company, such as G4S or Mitie.
One of their main roles, regardless of employment, is access control and searches of people and possessions on entry.

Appearance and Uniform

Generally, Court Security Officers wear uniform and have a smart, professional appearance. MoJ Court Security Officers wear a typical British police/security type uniform:
Royal Courts of Justice officers wear an "collar number" and the letters "RCJ".
Mitie Court Security Officers wear their company name on their epaulette as well as "COURT SECURITY OFFICER".
Some officers may wear stab vests.