Ministry of Justice
The Ministry of Justice is a major government department, at the heart of the justice system. We work to protect and advance the principles of justice. Our vision is to deliver a world-class justice system that works for everyone in society. - Secretary of State, Ministers of State, Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State, 

    Heidi Alexander MP

    The Lord Timpson OBE DL

    The Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede

    Alex Davies-Jones MP

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The Government has no plans to regulate religious dispute resolution processes (such as sharia courts) where all parties consent to those processes. This is consistent with Britain’s long history of freedom of worship and religious tolerance, and the legal rights and remedies of the parties involved remain in place.

Decisions of such bodies are only enforceable if there is a valid arbitration agreement by which all parties have consented to the process, as provided under the terms of the Arbitration Act 1996 for any arbitration panel.

The Government is currently preparing its response to the United Nations Committee for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights’ List of Issues Report, in relation to the Seventh Periodic Report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and will provide it to the UN shortly. We have had regular contact with the secretariat to the Committee on the timetable for our response.

The Government will then prepare for the interactive dialogue with the Committee which is expected to take place in 2025.

The Victims’ Code sets out the services and support that victims and survivors of crime are entitled to receive from the criminal justice system in England and Wales.

Currently, under the Code, all victims and survivors, including children, are entitled to be given information and be referred to support services by the police to help them cope and recover from the impact of a crime. This is regardless of whether anyone has been charged or convicted of a criminal offence or when the crime itself occurred. If they choose not to report the crime, they can also access support services directly.

We will be carefully considering the implementation of measures under the Victims and Prisoners Act, including the measure to publicly consult on and issue a new Victims’ Code, and the requirement to consider whether different provision for child victims and survivors is needed in the Code to meet their distinct needs.

We recognise the importance of supporting child victims and survivors through access to various forms of support, including psychological help. The Department provides Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) with annual grant funding to commission local practical, emotional and therapeutic support services to victims and survivors of all crime, including children and young people. PCCs commission local providers at their discretion based on their assessment of local need in relation to and not exclusively for child sexual exploitation. We also provide direct grant funding to over 60 specialist organisations through the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Fund. These services offer tailored support programmes to victims and survivors of all ages, including children, to help them cope with their experiences and move forward.

Single Justice Procedure (SJP) cases are decided by a single magistrate, with support of a legal adviser, in private rather than in a hearing in open court. This means that cases can be dealt with by courts anywhere in the country and are therefore not scheduled in the same way as conventional cases in court proceedings. As a result of this, these cases can be decided quickly and are often used to fill gaps between in person hearings and so enable efficient use of magistrates’ court capacity and time. Magistrates have the ability to refer cases to open court if they feel it would be appropriate.

Although journalists cannot observe magistrates deciding individual SJP cases, there is already more information published on SJP cases than cases heard in open court. This allows scrutiny from journalists, who can request additional information on cases under the Criminal Procedure Rules. Under a protocol agreed between HMCTS and media organisations, magistrates’ courts must provide lists of both pending cases and copies of the court register to local media. This includes SJP cases. The protocol also outlines what documents relating to SJP cases can be provided to the media – unlike any other case type, this includes a copy of the prosecution statement of facts or, if there is no statement of facts, the witness statement(s) and any defence representations in mitigation. We will keep the procedure under review.