A Portsmouth criminal case can run its whole course on one street. Portsmouth Magistrates' Court and Portsmouth Combined Court Centre, which houses the Crown Court, stand side by side on Winston Churchill Avenue, close to the city's main police station, and the criminal defence solicitors who work there see the same judges, prosecutors and probation officers week after week. That familiarity is worth having when a bail application or a basis of plea is being argued.
The caseload is that of a naval port and a student city. Saturday nights in Guildhall Walk and along the Southsea strip produce assaults, public order and drug possession; match days at Fratton Park bring football banning order applications; the ferry port brings drug importation, immigration and customs cases that end up in the Crown Court; and the M27, M275 and A3(M) supply a constant stream of drink-driving, speeding and totting-up cases. Domestic abuse allegations, burglary and sexual offences fill the rest of the lists.
Sailors face a second system. The Military Court Centre in Portsmouth hosts courts martial, and lesser matters go before a commanding officer; either route can cost someone their career, so the city's criminal solicitors are used to advising on service law alongside the ordinary kind.
Whatever the route, the first interview matters most. Anyone arrested or asked to attend a voluntary interview is entitled to free legal advice at the police station, regardless of income. Legal aid for the court case itself is means-tested in the magistrates' court; most Crown Court defendants qualify. Several Portsmouth firms hold criminal contracts and sit on the duty rota. Paying privately means an estimate for each stage, and a flat fee for most motoring work.
Criminal defence firms serving Portsmouth are listed below, verified firms first. Read what criminal law involves, the general criminal law solicitors page and whether legal help is free; for the west of the county see criminal law solicitors in Southampton.
