Ministry of Justice (United Kingdom)
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Ministerial department of the UK Government

Ministry of Justice

Welsh: Y Weinyddiaeth Gyfiawnder

102 Petty France, WestminsterMinisterial Department overviewFormed2007Preceding Ministerial DepartmentJurisdictionGovernment of the United KingdomHeadquarters102 Petty France

Westminster, LondonEmployeesOver 77,000Annual budget£6.3 billion & £600 million capital expenditure in 2018–19[1]Secretary of State responsibleMinisterial Department executiveChild agenciesWebsitegov .uk /moj

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is headed by the Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor (a combined position). Its stated priorities are to reduce re-offending and protect the public, to provide access to justice, to increase confidence in the justice system, and to uphold people's civil liberties.[2] The Secretary of State is the minister responsible to Parliament for the judiciary, the court system, prisons, and probation in England and Wales, with some additional UK-wide responsibilities, e.g., the UK Supreme Court and judicial appointments by the Crown. The department is also responsible for areas of constitutional policy not transferred in 2010 to the Deputy Prime Minister, human rights law, and information rights law across the UK.

The British Ministry of Justice may also oversee the administration of justice in Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man (which are Crown Dependencies), as well as Saint Helena, Ascension, Tristan da Cunha, and the Falkland Islands (which are British Overseas Territories).[3][4][5] Gibraltar, another British overseas territory, has its own Ministry of Justice.[6]

The ministry was formed in May 2007 when some functions of the Home Secretary were combined with the Department for Constitutional Affairs.[7] The latter had replaced the Lord Chancellor's Department in 2003.

The expenditure, administration, and policy of the Ministry of Justice are scrutinised by the Justice Select Committee.[8]

Responsibilities

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UK-wide

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Prior to the formation of the Coalition Government in May 2010,[9][10] the ministry handled relations between the British Government and the three devolved administrations: the Northern Ireland Executive; the Scottish Government; and the Welsh Government.

Responsibility for devolution was then transferred to the re-established position of Deputy Prime Minister, based in the Cabinet Office. He also assumed responsibility for political and constitutional reform, including reform of the House of Lords, the West Lothian Question, electoral policy, political party funding reform and royal succession.

After 2015, responsibility for devolution was transferred back to the ministry as well as the three offices for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland until 2019 when it was transferred to the Minister for the Union in the Prime Minister's Office. Reform of the House of Lords was given to the Leader of the House of Lords and the Cabinet Office. The West Lothian Question was given to the Leader of the House of Commons as was electoral policy and political party funding reform which is now handled by the Speakers Committee on Electoral Reform and the House Leader. Royal succession was given back to the ministry.

The Secretary of State for Justice had responsibility for a commission on a British bill of rights. The British bill of rights was a plan to implement human rights through national law, instead of the European Convention on Human Rights being part of UK law through the Human Rights Act 1998. This would have also ended the binding authority the European Court of Human Rights has over British courts.[11] This was later shelved, but recently, this has gained support since the UK left the European Union.[citation needed]

The Ministry of Justice retained the following UK-wide remit:

European Union and international justice policy

Freedom of information and data protection

Human rights and civil liberties

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom

The National Archives

As the office of the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, the ministry is also responsible for policy relating to Lord Lieutenants (i.e. the personal representatives of the King), "non-delegated" royal, church and hereditary issues, and other constitutional issues, although the exact definition of these is unclear.[12]

The post of Lord Chancellor of Ireland was abolished in 1922 though Northern Ireland remains part of the UK. The authority of the Lord Chancellor of Ireland was transferred to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.[13]

England and Wales only

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The vast majority of the Ministry of Justice's work takes place in England and Wales. The ministry has no responsibility for devolved criminal justice policy, courts, prisons or probation matters in either Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Within the jurisdiction of England and Wales, the Ministry of Justice is responsible for ensuring that all suspected offenders (including children and young people) are appropriately dealt with from the time they are arrested, until convicted offenders have completed their sentence.[14] The ministry is therefore responsible for all aspects of the criminal law, including the scope and content of criminal offences. Its responsibilities extend to the commissioning of prison services (through the National Offender Management Service), rehabilitation and reducing offending, victim support, the probation service and the out-of-court system, the Youth Justice Board, sentencing and parole policy, criminal injuries compensation and the Criminal Cases Review Commission. The Attorney General for England and Wales (also the Advocate General for Northern Ireland) works with the Ministry of Justice to develop criminal justice policy.[15]

Other responsibilities limited to England and Wales include the administration of all courts and tribunals, land registration, legal aid and the regulation of legal services, coroners and the investigation of deaths, administrative justice and public law, the maintenance of the judiciary, public guardianship and mental incapacity, supervision of restricted patients detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 and civil law and justice, including the family justice system and claims management regulation.

Crown dependencies

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The Ministry of Justice is the department that facilitates communication between the Crown dependencies i.e. Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, and HM Government. These are self-governing possessions of the British monarch, through his titles as Duke of Normandy in the Channel Islands and Lord of Mann in the Isle of Man.

It processes legislation for Royal Assent passed by the insular legislative assemblies and consults the Islands on extending UK legislation to them. It also ensures that relevant UK legislation is extended to the islands smoothly.[16]

Ministers

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The Ministers in the Ministry of Justice are as follows, with cabinet ministers in bold:[17]

Minister Portrait Office Portfolio The Rt Hon. Shabana Mahmood KC MP Secretary of State for Justice

Lord Chancellor

Oversight of cross-cutting emergency issues, responses supported by other ministers according to portfolio

Oversight of international business and future relations with the EU

MoJ support for the Union.

Resourcing of the department

Functions of the Lord Chancellor

Judicial policy including pay, pensions and diversity (these and other operational decisions affecting the judiciary are reserved to the Lord Chancellor)

Corporate services

The Rt Hon. The Lord Timpson Minister of State for Prisons, Parole and Probation

Prison capacity and related policy

Prison operations, policy, reform, and industrial relations

His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service administration

Probation demand

Probation policy and operations, industrial relations, and transparency

Prisoner Escort Contracts

Reducing Reoffending

Release on Temporary Licence (ROTL) schemes

Electronic Monitoring (EM)

Foreign National Offenders

Home Detention Curfew (HDC)

Offender Cohorts

Female Offenders

Offender health and drugs

Parole based victim engagement.

Parole policy

Counter Terrorism

Sustainability

Cross-cutting Digital, Data and transformation

Heidi Alexander MP Minister of State

Criminal Courts and Criminal Court recovery

Court Reform (including artificial intelligence, modernisation, and digital reform)

His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service administration

Legal Aid

Legal Aid Agency administration

Legal Services

Criminal Cases Review Commission administration

Civil Justice

Modern Justice System: Legal Support; Dispute Resolution

Tribunals Policy (incl. fees)

Irregular Migration

Probate

Miscarriages of Justice

Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation

Office for the Public Guardian administration

Mental Capacity

Secondary Legislation

Press/ Communications

MoJ Mission lead for Kickstart economic growth

Alex Davies-Jones MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State

Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG)

Criminal Law (incl. Child Sexual Abuse)

Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority

Rape and Serious Sexual Offences

Victims and Witnesses inc. Victims’ Commissioner

Hillsborough

Coroners and Death Management

Commons Family Minister

Cross-cutting corporate portfolio (incl. Ministerial Disability Champion Meetings, Diversity & Inclusion, Covid-19 Inquiry, Public Appointments, Senior Civil Service HR)

MoJ Mission lead for Take back our streets

The Rt Hon. The Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice

Family Justice and Marriage and Divorce

All Lords Business (except PPP)

Private International Law

International Criminal Justice

Constitution

Crown Dependencies

Devolution and the Union

EU Retained Law policy.

Human Rights

International

Judicial Review

Overseas Territories

Nic Dakin MP Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Sentencing

Sentencing

Youth Justice

Youth Hubs

Commons Prisons, Probation and Parole

Transparency

MoJ Mission lead for Breakdown barriers to opportunity

The Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice is Dame Antonia Romeo, who is by virtue of her office also Clerk of the Crown in Chancery.

See also

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Ministry of justice

Government of the United Kingdom

Politics of the United Kingdom

References

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