About the criminal justice service
The criminal justice service (CJS) is one of the major public services in the country.
The purpose of the 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, carrying out the orders of court such as collecting fines, and supervising community and custodial punishment.
A wide number of agencies work together to deliver the CJS, including the police, the Crown Prosecution Service, the courts, the prisons and probation service. The work of these various agencies is overseen by three government departments - the Ministry of Justice, the Home Office and the Attorney General's Office.
For further information on London’s criminal justice service, watch our videos.
You can also find detailed information on how the criminal justice service works on the Criminal Justice System website. The website outlines each stage of the process, including:
- reporting a crime
- investigation
- deciding how to deal with the case
- the magistrates’ courts
- the Crown Court
- sentencing
- punishment and rehabilitation
- wrongful conviction.
For information on the agencies involved in delivering London’s criminal justice service, see our agencies and partners page.