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
Robert Buckland
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State
Alex Chalk - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)Lord Wolfson of Tredegar - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Latest News (from Department Twitter Feed)
- 23 Feb 2021, 2:33 p.m.
- “Seven years later, after seeing an article from a fellow survivor, I realised it was time to tell my story.” If you’ve experienced sexual abuse or violence, support is available. It’s free, independent & confidential. https://t.co/GcFIeX2pk3 2/2 https://t.co/KjPrJ1a29T - Link
- 23 Feb 2021, 2:32 p.m.
- TW // sexual abuse “The past 12 months have seen me finally face what happened to me, seek support, & go on to heal after experiencing PTSD.” Sexual abuse support services helped 28-year-old Sophie to heal after she was raped by a stranger while travelling at 21. 1/2 https://t.co/eUY0STqkPs - Link View All Ministry of Justice Tweets
Ministry of Justice Commons Appearances
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:- Urgent Questions where the Speaker has selected a question to which a Minister must reply that day
- Adjornment Debates a 30 minute debate attended by a Minister that concludes the day in Parliament.
- Oral Statements informing the Commons of a significant development, where backbench MP's can then question the Minister making the statement.
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.
Most Recent Commons Appearances by Category
| Date | Type | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Feb. 02 | Oral Questions | Oral Answers to Questions |
| Nov. 20 | Topical Questions | Topical Questions |
| Jul. 24 | Urgent Questions | Feltham A Young Offenders Institution |
| Feb. 04 | Written Statements | National Preventive Mechanism |
| Jan. 13 | Westminster Hall | War Memorials: Desecration |
| Nov. 24 | Adjournment Debate | HMP Frankland: Covid-19 |
Ministry of Justice - Bills and Acts in the Current Session
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
This Bill received Royal Assent on Thursday 25th June 2020 and was enacted into law.
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.
This Bill received Royal Assent on Wednesday 4th November 2020 and was enacted into law.
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.
This Bill received Royal Assent on Monday 14th December 2020 and was enacted into law.
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.
This Bill received Royal Assent on Wednesday 26th February 2020 and was enacted into law.
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
This Bill received Royal Assent on Monday 8th June 2020 and was enacted into law.
A Bill to consolidate certain enactments relating to sentencing.
This Bill received Royal Assent on Thursday 22nd October 2020 and was enacted into law.
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.
Wednesday 3rd March 2021
Ministry of Justice - Draft Secondary Legislation
| Dates | Department | Title | |
|---|---|---|---|
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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). | |||
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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. | |||
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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. | |||
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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). | |||
Ministry of Justice - Laid Secondary Legislation
| Dates | Department | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
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Laid 19 Feb 2021 In Force 22 Feb 2021 |
Ministry of Justice |
Public Health (Coronavirus) (Protection from Eviction) (England) (No. 2) Regulations 2021 Parliamentary Status - Text of Legislation |
Made affirmative procedure |
| These Regulations renew the provisions in the Public Health (Coronavirus) (Protection from Eviction) (England) Regulations 2021(10) and prevent, except in specified circumstances, attendance at a dwelling-house for the purpose of executing a writ or warrant of possession or delivering a notice of eviction. | |||
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Laid 15 Feb 2021 In Force 6 Apr 2021 |
Ministry of Justice |
Family Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2021 Parliamentary Status - Text of Legislation |
Made negative procedure |
| These Rules amend the Family Procedure Rules 2010 (“the FPR”) (S.I. 2010/2955). | |||
Petitions addressed by Ministry of Justice
| Current Signatures | Final Signatures | Title | Petition Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
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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 1 year, 6 months ago |
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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. |
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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, 8 months ago |
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People are scared of the amount of knife crime with apparently very little deterent to stop people carrying knifes. |
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Ministry of Justice Select Committee
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.
Open Inquiries
Closed Inquiries
Recent Select Committee Publications
Wed 24 Feb 2021 - Letter from Lucy Frazer QC MP, Minister of State for Justice, dated 8 February 2021, regarding Parole Reform
Wed 24 Feb 2021 - Letter from Rt Hon Robert Buckland QC MP, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, dated 14 February 2021, regarding restrictions on enforcing evictions
Wed 24 Feb 2021 - Letter from Rt Hon Robert Buckland QC MP, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, dated 16 February 2021, regarding funding of Nightingale court sites
Wed 24 Feb 2021 - Letter from Rt Hon Suella Braverman QC MP, Attorney General, dated 9 February 2021, regarding the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 Order 2021
Ministry of Justice Publications
Most Recent Publications
| Date | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Feb. 24 | A guide to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme | Guidance and Regulation |
| Feb. 19 | Practice Direction update 1 (2021): Family Procedure Rules 2010 | Guidance and Regulation |
| Feb. 19 | HMPPS Weekly COVID-19 data - 15 February 2021 | Transparency |
Ministry of Justice Written Questions
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.
Latest Written Question
| Date | Title | Questioner |
|---|---|---|
| 24 Feb 2021, midnight | Prison Officers: Pay | Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington) |
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Question to the Ministry of Justice: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on prison safety of the decision to reject the Prison Service Pay Review Body’s recommendation 3. Answered by Lucy Frazer - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice) The 20/21 PSPRB report was received on 5 June 2020 and included a recommendation, recommendation 3, to uplift the pay of Band 3 prison staff on modernised terms and conditions by £3,000. This recommendation was ultimately not accepted by the government, on the basis of the exceptional costs associated with implementing the recommendation, the impact on the overall prison service pay structure, and the changing labour market conditions due to the exceptional economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision regarding this recommendation was announced on 10 December 2020 (https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2020-12-10/hcws638).
Ahead of the decision regarding this recommendation, extensive work was undertaken by the Ministry of Justice together with HM Treasury to understand the costs and impacts of it. This included considering whether any workforce reforms could be delivered alongside the recommendation which would create efficiencies and savings, and therefore deliver value for money by offsetting some of the cost of the recommendation. This was undertaken with a view to possible discussions with recognised trade unions, should an option for affordable delivery of the recommendation, which could offer value for money for taxpayers be identified. The conclusion was that sufficient savings required to offer value for money could not be achieved, meaning the recommendation remained unaffordable.
The Ministry of Justice also considered the possible impacts on recruitment, retention and morale, which in turn have an effect on prison safety and security. However, recruitment, retention and staff morale levels are all driven by a range of factors and an increase in pay alone cannot be assumed to be a fix for these issues. Furthermore, there are significant investments being made into prison safety and security, and financial pressures from elsewhere impact our ability to deliver these.
An Equalities Impact Assessment was conducted and considered in reaching the decision to reject recommendation 3. This considered the demographics of staff and how the decision to reject the recommendation would interact with eliminating unlawful discrimination and advancing quality of opportunity.
The Secretary of State’s policy is that PSPRB recommendations will only be departed from “in exceptional circumstances, one of which would be on the grounds of affordability”. Furthermore, all appropriate advice was taken by the Secretary of State for Justice as to the relevant facts and tests relevant to the decision on recommendation 3.
The decision of 10 December 2020 to ultimately reject recommendation 3 was taken by the Secretary of State. It was not subject to the Cabinet committee write round procedure but was, as is consistent with usual practice with respect to public sector pay awards, preceded by HM Treasury input.
The Department remains committed to working with the review body, within the boundaries of the pay restraint policy as set out by the Chancellor for the 2021/22 pay round, which includes targeted awards for those earning less than £24k per annum. We will also continue to work closely with recognised trade unions. |
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