---
title: "County Courts (Penalties for Contempt) Act 1983"
id: edda61ba-4573-4dce-8909-a8fb0df1b2a4
authority: uk
place: "United Kingdom"
applies_also_from: []
kind: statute
in_force: true
publisher_url: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1983/45
attribution: "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
solon_url: https://solon.orangecat.ch/law/edda61ba-4573-4dce-8909-a8fb0df1b2a4
language: en
in_force_from: 2004-07-22
date_basis: publisher
status: consolidated
source_url: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1983/45/data.xml
read_on: 2026-11-08
sha256: 1a0b71f1c8b98b0165dd372a50d0c51d4dcd81cacf41d1652fc03d259a1730c9
provisions: 3
---

# County Courts (Penalties for Contempt) Act 1983

## Title and introductory text {#prelims}

County Courts (Penalties for Contempt) Act 1983
1983 c. 45
An Act to provide for county courts to be treated as superior courts for the purposes of section 14 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981.
[13th May 1983]
Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

## 1 Amendment of section 14 of Contempt of Court Act 1981. {#section-1}

In section 14 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 (penalties for contempt of court), after subsection (4) there shall be inserted—
(4A) For the purposes of the preceding provisions of this section a county court shall be treated as a superior court and not as an inferior court.
.

## 2 Citation, saving and extent. {#section-2}

(1) This Act may be cited as the County Courts (Penalties for Contempt) Act 1983.
(2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(3) This Act extends to Northern Ireland, and accordingly the reference in section 1 to section 14 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981 includes a reference to that section as set out in Schedule 4 to that Act.