[1][2][3] However, as the number of court cases in Carlisle grew, it became necessary to commission a more modern courthouse for criminal matters: the site selected by the Lord Chancellor's Department had been occupied by Hetherington's Cattle Auction Market which dated back at least to the mid-19th century.

[4][5][6] The new building was designed by Napper Collerton in the Modernist style, built in red brick with stone dressings at a cost of £9.3 million,[7] and was completed in 1992.

[8][9] The design involved a broadly symmetrical main frontage facing south down Earl Street with the end bays projected forward as pavilions.

[10] A statue of the former member of parliament, Major Francis Aglionby, which was sculpted by Musgrave Watson and had been on display in the entrance hall at Carlisle Citadel since 1843,[11] was transferred to the courtyard in front of the main entrance of the new Courts of Justice shortly after it opened.

[12][13] Notable cases have included the trial and conviction of the alleged sergeant-at-arms of the Lancaster branch of the Satans Slaves Motorcycle Club, Paul Holmes, in June 2016, for the illegal possession of a large quantity of firearms.