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.
Oral Answers to Questions is a regularly scheduled appearance where the Secretary of State and junior minister will answer at the Dispatch Box questions from backbench MPs
Other Commons Chamber appearances can be:Westminster Hall debates are performed in response to backbench MPs or e-petitions asking for a Minister to address a detailed issue
Written Statements are made when a current event is not sufficiently significant to require an Oral Statement, but the House is required to be informed.
| Date | Type | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Jul. 14 | Oral Questions | Oral Answers to Questions |
| Jul. 24 | Urgent Questions | Feltham A Young Offenders Institution |
| Mar. 18 | Westminster Hall | Prison Staff: Health and Safety |
| Jun. 30 | Adjournment Debate | Black Women: Domestic Abuse |
| Title | Last Event | Next Event Date | Last Updated | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 | Royal Assent (Minutes of Proceedings) 25 June, 2020 | 29 Jun 2020, 12:59 p.m. | ||
| A bill to make in relation to marriage and civil partnership in England and Wales provision about divorce, dissolution and separation; and for connected purposes | ||||
| Terrorist Offenders (Restriction of Early Release) Act 2020 | Royal Assent (Minutes of Proceedings) 26 February, 2020 | 3 Mar 2020, 3:50 p.m. | ||
| A Bill to make provision about the release on licence of offenders convicted of terrorist offences or offences with a terrorist connection; and for connected purposes. | ||||
| Sentencing (Pre-consolidation Amendments) Act 2020 | Royal Assent (Minutes of Proceedings) 8 June, 2020 | 24 Jun 2020, 5:39 p.m. | ||
| A bill to give effect to Law Commission recommendations relating to commencement of enactments relating to sentencing law and to make provision for pre-consolidation amendments of sentencing law | ||||
| Prisoners (Disclosure of Information About Victims) Bill 2019-21 | Report stage (Minutes of Proceedings): House of Lords 1 July, 2020 | 2 Jul 2020, 7:51 p.m. | ||
| To require the Parole Board to take into account any failure by a prisoner serving a sentence for unlawful killing or for taking or making an indecent image of a child to disclose information about the victim. | ||||
| Private International Law (Implementation of Agreements) Bill [HL] 2019-21 | 1st reading: House of Commons (no debate) |
2nd reading: House of Commons 2 Sep 2020 |
16 Jul 2020, 12:47 p.m. | |
| A Bill to implement the Hague Conventions of 1996, 2005 and 2007 and to provide for the implementation of other international agreements on private international law. | ||||
| Counter-Terrorism and Sentencing Bill 2019-21 | 1st reading (Minutes of Proceedings): House of Lords 22 July, 2020 | 30 Jul 2020, 3:53 p.m. | ||
| A Bill to make provision about the sentencing of offenders convicted of terrorism offences, of offences with a terrorist connection or of certain other offences; to make other provision in relation to terrorism; and for connected purposes. | ||||
| Sentencing Bill [HL] 2019-21 | Order of Commitment discharged (Minutes of Proceedings): House of Lords 29 July, 2020 | 30 Jul 2020, 10:07 a.m. | ||
| A Bill to consolidate certain enactments relating to sentencing. | ||||
| Dates | Department | Title | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Published 8 Jun 2020, 4:23 p.m. |
Ministry of Justice | The Northern Ireland Act 1998 (Section 75 – Designation of Public Authority) Order 2020 | |
| This Order designates the Independent Monitoring Authority for the Citizens’ Rights Agreements (the “IMA”) for the purposes of section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (c. 47). | |||
|
Published 12 Feb 2020, 2:21 p.m. |
Ministry of Justice | The Fatal Accidents Act 1976 (Remedial) Order 2020 | |
| Section 1A of the Fatal Accidents Act 1976 (c.30) (the “Act”) provides for a fixed sum of bereavement damages to be awarded to a limited category of persons in the event of a fatal accident caused by wrongful act, neglect or default. | |||
|
Published 20 Jan 2020, 2:09 p.m. |
Ministry of Justice | The Judicial Pensions and Fee-Paid Judges’ Pension Schemes (Contributions) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 | |
| The Judicial Pensions Regulations 2015 (S.I. 2015/182) (“the 2015 Regulations”) and the Judicial Pensions (Fee-Paid Judges) Regulations 2017 (S.I. 2017/522) make provision for the contributions payable by members of both schemes constituted by those Regulations. | |||
|
Published 15 Oct 2019, 3:57 p.m. |
Ministry of Justice | The Human Rights Act 1998 (Remedial) Order 2019 | |
| This Order amends the Human Rights Act 1998 (“HRA”) to address a finding of the European Court of Human Rights of a breach of Article 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights (“Convention”) in the case of Hammerton v United Kingdom (Application no. 6287/10). | |||
| Dates | Department | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Laid 21 Jul 2020 In Force Not stated |
Ministry of Justice | Services of Lawyers and Lawyer’s Practice (Revocation etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 Parliamentary Status - Text of Legislation | Draft affirmative procedure |
| These Regulations are made in exercise of the powers conferred by section 8(1) of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 in order to address failures of retained EU law to operate effectively and other deficiencies (in particular under section 8(2)(c) of that Act) arising from the withdrawal of the UK from the European Union. They are also made in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 12 and 14 of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 which make provision for recognition of professional qualifications and equal treatment and provisions implementing the withdrawal agreement, the EEA EFTA separation agreement and the Swiss citizens’ rights agreement (as those agreements are defined in section 39(1) of that Act), | |||
|
Laid 20 Jul 2020 In Force 1 Oct 2020 |
Ministry of Justice | Family Procedure (Amendment No. 2) Rules 2020 Parliamentary Status - Text of Legislation | Made negative procedure |
| These Rules amend the Family Procedure Rules 2010 (SI 2010/2955) by substituting for Part 37 of those Rules (applications and proceedings in relation to contempt of court) a new Part 37 that streamlines and simplifies the process for proceedings for contempt of court. The new Part mirrors Part 81 of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (S.I. 1998/3132) which was substituted by the Civil Procedure (Amendment No. 3) Rules 2020 following a consultation by the Civil Procedure Rule Committee (Proposed rule changes relating to contempt of court: redraft of CPR Part 81), which ran from 9 March 2020 to 11 May 2020. These Rules also make amendments in Parts 10 and 11 of the Family Procedure Rules 2010 which are consequential on the streamlining of the new Part 37. | |||
| Current Signatures | Final Signatures | Title | Petition Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
|
167,506 Petition Closed |
Violet-Grace’s Law - Life sentences for Death by Dangerous Driving Gov Responded - 25 Feb 2019 Debated on - 8 Jul 2019 |
15 Aug 2019 closed 11 months, 3 weeks ago |
|
|
The men who killed our daughter drove a stolen a car at 83 mph in a 30 mph zone. They killed our 4-year-old daughter Violet-Grace and severely injured her nan, who has life-changing injuries. They will serve less time in prison than Violet was alive. I don’t want other families to suffer like this. |
|||
|
115,723 Petition Closed |
People found with a knife to get 10 years and using a knife 25 years in prison. Gov Responded - 14 Mar 2019 Debated on - 25 Mar 2019 |
3 Jun 2019 closed 1 year, 2 months ago |
|
|
People are scared of the amount of knife crime with apparently very little deterent to stop people carrying knifes. |
|||
Ministry of Justice Select Committee Home Page
Select Committees are a formally established cross-party group of backbench MPs tasked with holding a Government department to account.
At any time there will be number of ongoing investigations into the work of the Department, or issues which fall within the oversight of the Department. Witnesses can be summoned from within the Government and outside to assist in these inquiries, and the Select Committee will occasionally publish formal reports of their findings.
| Date | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Aug. 03 | Wrexham magistrates’ court to undergo £5.4m transformation | News and Communications |
| Jul. 31 | Government launches independent panel to look at judicial review | News and Communications |
| Jul. 31 | Improvements to care for pregnant women and mothers in prison | News and Communications |
Written Questions are submitted by Members of Parliament and the House of Lords to receive information or updates from a Department.
Departments are required to respond in a timely fashion and provide a response or requested information. Written Questions can compel detailed and specific information to be produced, and are frequently used as the source of news stories about the work of a Department.
| Date | Title | Questioner |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Aug 2020, 11:33 a.m. | Prison and Probation Service: Finance | Lord Bradley |
|
Question To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of the budget allocated to the HM Prisons and Probation Service Payment Plus scheme has been spent so far in the current financial year. Answer (Lord Keen of Elie) Payment Plus is funded through Her Majesty’s Prisons and Probation Service’s staff pay budget from savings arising from any staff vacancies, which are then re-invested by each prison to fund the Payment Plus (PP) needed to cover operational staff vacancies. Prison governors have always had the authority to use PP to allow for additional staff time to cover vacancies. They are given an annual budget for staff costs based on agreed staffing levels and are expected to manage PP within this. In the first quarter of this financial year, the total spend on PP was £20.4m, which includes additional overtime cover in response to the impact of COVID-19. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a high risk of increased staff absence and to mitigate this, staff were asked to volunteer for additional PP hours in advance of need. Since the start of the scheme in mid-March, to end June, about 60% of the total extra PP hours volunteers had committed to work were used and the remainder are being used as prisons move into recovery. |
||