Our work is focused around four strategic objectives:
Departmental strategic objectives
- strengthen democracy, rights and responsibilities
- deliver fair and simple routes to civil and family justice
- protect the public and reduce reoffending
- ensure a more effective, transparent and responsive criminal justice system for victims and the public
1. We lead the government's constitutional, rights and legal reform programmes, which include work on institutional reform, data protection and sharing, electoral modernisation, human rights, devolution and encouraging people to take an active part in the democratic process.
2. We want to give people access to an efficient and effective civil and family justice system and try to help them avoid disputes that end up in court.
3. Protecting the public and reducing reoffending is central to our whole purpose. We are increasing prison capacity and an independent working group will be reporting on better ways to align supply and demand through the sentencing framework. We are committed to offender management reforms and delivering more effective community penalties that reflect the needs of local people. We are also working more collaboratively across government to protect the public and reduce reoffending.
4. We lead the new cross-government Justice for All public service agreement to deliver a more effective, transparent and responsive criminal justice system for victims and the public. We are taking a problem-solving approach to improving the criminal justice system which fully reflects the priorities of local communities as well as victims and the public.
Public Service Agreement
The Public Service Agreement sets out the key priority outcomes the government wants to achieve in the next spending period (2008-2011). The Ministry of Justice contributes to the following PSA targets:
- ensure controlled, fair migration that protects the public and contributes to economic growth
- improve the safety of children and young people
- increase the number of children and young people on the path to success
- address the disadvantage that individuals experience because of their gender, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief
- increase the proportion of socially excluded adults in settled accommodation and employment, education or training
- build more cohesive, empowered and active communities
- make communities safer
- deliver a more effective, transparent and responsive criminal justice system for victims and the public (Ministry of Justice lead department)
- reduce the harm caused by alcohol and drugs
- reduce the risk to the UK and its interests overseas from international terrorism