The Northern Ireland Court Service today placed a contract worth over £20 million sterling with a private company for security and other services previously provided by the police.
The five-year contract, which the Court Service said was worth over £4 million sterling a year, was signed with Maybin Property Support Services (Northern Ireland).
The contractor is to recruit more than 200 workers to carry out a range of jobs in Northern Ireland courts, from the High Court down to the magistrates' court.
As well as providing security services the new team will act as court orderlies and jury keepers in courts.
They will provide alarm monitoring and key holding services together with customer-care services.
The transfer of responsibility from the Police Service to a civilian contractor was one of the recommendations contained in the recently published Criminal Justice Review in the province.
Maybin is one of the largest and best-known providers of security, cleaning and contracted services in Ireland, with an annual turnover of £25 million and over 3,500 workers.
Its Belfast-based security division employs over 600 staff.
PA