In January 2023, the Ministry of Justice launched a Review of Civil Legal Aid, setting out its proposals to improve the system’s ability to deliver long-term access to justice. JUSTICE has responded to the Ministry of Justice’s call for evidence. In doing so, we have drawn upon our previous work, including our reports on Solving […]
Inquiry into the Coroner Service
February 19, 2024
In November 2023, the Justice Committee launched a follow up inquiry into the Coroner Service. The inquiry seeks to examine changes made since the publication of its previous report on the Coroner Service in 2021. JUSTICE has responded to the Committee’s call for evidence, drawing on our Working Party When Things Go Wrong: the response […]
Investigatory arrangements following police use of force
November 22, 2023
On 24 September 2023, the Home Office announced a review of investigations after police use of force. The terms of reference for the review were published on 24 October 2024. The review arose in response to backlash over the Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) decision to charge a police officer with murder in connection with the […]
Future Prison Population and Estate Capacity
October 31, 2023
In October 2023, JUSTICE submitted written evidence to the Justice Committee’s inquiry into Future prison population and estate capacity. Our submission outlined the current state of the prison system in numbers: a population of 88,225 as at 13 October 2023, just over 500 short of the “usable operational capacity” which then existed. That population is […]
Open Justice: the way forward
September 14, 2023
In September 2023, JUSTICE responded to the Ministry of Justice’s consultation, Open Justice: the way forward. Our response paper, titled Open Justice in a modern justice system: purposes, tensions and tools, sets out JUSTICE’s assessment of the purposes of open justice, what other principles, rights and interests are in tension with open justice, and what […]
White paper: A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation
July 5, 2023
In June 2023, JUSTICE responded to the Government’s White Paper, “A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation” (the “Consultation”) presented by the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology. In its response, JUSTICE recognised that Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) has the potential to radically change our society and the way we live our lives. JUSTICE therefore encourages embracing the […]
Proposals for the earlier resolution of private family law arrangements
June 16, 2023
In May and June 2023, JUSTICE responded to two linked consultations on the earlier resolution of private family law arrangements. The first, by the Family Procedure Rule Committee in connection with the MOJ, sought views on various changes to the Family Procedure Rules to strengthen the existing provisions around attendance at Mediation Information and Assessment […]
Civil Justice Council Costs Consultation 2022
October 31, 2022
JUSTICE provided a response to the Civil Justice Council’s Costs Working Group consultation in October 2022. Our response focussed on pre-action protocol (‘PAP’) correspondence reform and costs capping in judicial review. We emphasised the following general principles: Having set out these general principles, JUSTICE would emphasise that current practitioners and advice groups are best placed […]
Increasing the use of Mediation in the Civil Justice System consultation response
October 17, 2022
In October 2022, JUSTICE responded to the Ministry of Justice consultation on increasing the use of mediation in the civil justice system. The terms of the consultation were broad in scope and ambition, as it sought views on automatically referring for mediation, all small claims (generally understood to be those under £10,000) across sectors and […]
Reforming the Private Rented Sector: Consultation Response
September 23, 2022
In August 2022, JUSTICE responded to the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee’s call for evidence relating to the Governments White Paper on Reforming the Private Rented Sector. The consultation response drew heavily on our 2020 Solving Housing Disputes report, which set out our analysis of the challenges facing landlords and tenants as well as […]