About The CJS
Criminal Justice System Aims and Objectives
The purpose of the Criminal Justice System (CJS) is to deliver justice for all, by convicting and
punishing the guilty and helping them to stop offending, while protecting the innocent. It is
responsible for detecting crime and bringing it to justice; and carrying out the orders of court, such as collecting fines, and supervising community and custodial punishment.
The key goals for the CJS are:
• To improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the CJS in bringing offences to justice;
• To increase public confidence in the fairness and effectiveness of the CJS;
• To increase victim satisfaction with the police, and victim and witness satisfaction with the CJS;
• To consistently collect, analyse and use good quality ethnicity data to identify and address race disproportionality in the CJS; and
• To increase the recovery of criminal assets by recovering £250m of assets acquired through crime by 2009-10.
Working together to cut crime and deliver justice
The Criminal Justice Strategic Plan 2008-2011 sets out how the agencies of the CJS in England and Wales will work together to deliver a justice system which:
- Is effective in bringing offences to justice, especially serious offences;
- Engages the public and inspires confidence;
- Puts the needs of victims at its heart; and has
- Simple and efficient processes.
The Criminal Justice System Business Plan 2009-10
The plan sets out how the Criminal Justice System (CJS) will make progress in delivering a more effective, transparent and responsive CJS for victims and the public. The plan outlines how Local Criminal Justice Boards (LCJBs) will contribute to delivering the Public Service Agreement (PSA) and how they will be supported during the year by national agencies and Government departments. It details agency and department-led policies and programmes as well as cross-CJS projects, like joined up IT systems.