Chapter 6: The Lord Chancellor's Department

Aim

The aim of the Lord Chancellor's Department is justice.

Objectives and performance targets

Objective I: to provide a fair, swift and effective system of justice which provides confidence in the rule of law; helps reduce crime, the fear of crime, and the economic consequences of crime; and gives value for money.

1. Secure a minimum 5 percentage point improvement in the level of satisfaction of users of the justice system by 2004, including that of victims and witnesses with their treatment in the CJS (contributes to progress against target 6 in the CJS PSA).

2. Reduce by 2004 the time from arrest to sentence or other disposal by:

reducing the time from charge to disposal for all defendants, with a target to be specified by March 2001;
dealing with 80% of youth court cases within their time targets; and
halving from 142 to 71 days by 2002 the time taken from arrest to sentence for persistent young offenders, and maintaining that level thereafter.

Target contributing to CJS PSA

3. Improve the level of public confidence in the CJS by 2004 including improving that of ethnic minority communities. Target contributing to CJS PSA

4. Increase the number and proportion of recorded crimes for which an offender is brought to justice. Target Contributing to CJS PSA

Objective II: to improve people's knowledge and understanding of their rights and responsibilities, including how to resolve disputes that affect them, in a way and at a cost proportionate to the issue at stake.

5. Reduce the proportion of disputes which are resolved by resort to the courts.

Objective III: to improve the availability of affordable and good quality legal services so that the law underpins economic success at home and abroad, and that the use of public funds secures greater social justice and reduces social exclusion.

6. Increase the number of people who receive suitable assistance in priority areas of law, involving fundamental rights or social exclusion, by 5% by 2004; and secure year on year increases of at least 5% in the number of international legal disputes resolved in the UK.

Objective IV: to make civil and family law clearer and more easily enforceable giving priority to key Government objectives in tackling social and economic issues.

7. Increase the enforceability of civil judgements by achieving a 10% increase in the amount recovered per pound under executed warrants issued in the county courts in 2001-04, with this target to be reviewed and new targets set for 2002-04 by July 2001.

Objective V: to improve the lives of children, and help build and sustain strong families through providing a legal and procedural framework which sustains family relationships, and, when they do break down, to resolve disputes with the least distress to those affected, especially the most vulnerable.

8. Increase continued contact between children and the non-resident parent after a family breakdown, where this is in the best interests of the child.

Objective VI: to uphold the independence of the judiciary - especially through the appointment of sufficient judges, magistrates and other judicial post holders of the right calibre to match needs and through promoting a partnership with the judiciary for delivering justice effectively.

Value for money

9. Secure year on year improvements in value for money in the delivery of the Community Legal Service and the Criminal Defence Service.

Who is responsible for delivery?

The Lord Chancellor is responsible for the delivery of this PSA. The LCD's objectives and performance targets support those set out in the Criminal Justice System PSA, Chapter 22. The Lord Chancellor is, with the Home Secretary and Attorney General, jointly responsible for the delivery of these targets (numbers 1 to 4 above).

External links

Technical Agreement