Criminal justice

The criminal justice system encompasses policing, prosecutions, the courts and offender management (prisons and probation), and spans several government departments (the Home Office, the Department for Constitutional Affairs, and the Law Officers' Departments). 

In recent years, the impetus towards greater co-ordination and co-operation between the main criminal justice agencies has been mirrored in the scrutiny arrangements for the criminal justice system, which is subject to monitoring by five main statutory inspectorates. In March 2005, the Government announced proposals to combine the existing inspectorates in a single new Inspectorate for Justice and Community Safety. There is already a single, dedicated Inspectorate of Criminal Justice for Northern Ireland.

In addition, local input into the scrutiny of criminal justice is preserved in bodies such as Police Authorities, Courts Boards, and Local Probation Boards, all of which combine executive functions with the duty of scrutinising the relevant criminal justice agency on behalf of users and communities. Other scrutiny bodies within the criminal justice system include lay visitors to prisons (independent monitoring boards) and to police stations (independent custody visitors), which are voluntary bodies acting as independent checks on the operation of the police and prison services.