Govt confirms justice department role for DCA

The Government is to press ahead with controversial plans to reform its under-fire Home Office in a move that will hand the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) a wave of new powers.

Prime Minister Tony Blair today (29 March) unveiled the changes, which will see the UK's courts ministry rebranded as the Ministry of Justice, with a wider criminal law policy brief.

Under the plans, which were first floated earlier this year by Home Secretary John Reid, the DCA will take control of probation, prisons and sentencing policy. The transfer of responsibilities will take place on 9 May.

The expanded brief, budget and inclusion of the politically-sensitive criminal law brief will be viewed as handing the DCA significant extra clout in Whitehall.

Meanwhile, the Home Office will oversee security issues, including immigration, identity, public protection and the UK security services. The new-look department will also absorb anti-terrorism policy from the Cabinet Office.

Announcing the move, Blair said: "The Ministry of Justice will take the leading role in delivering a fairer, more effective, speedy and efficient justice system, and also in reducing re-offending. In doing so it will, with the Home Office and the Attorney General's Office, respect the vital roles and independence of the judiciary and the Prosecuting authorities."

The changes mark another major shake-up for the DCA, following the Government ¹s decision in 2003 to disband its predecessor, the Lord Chancellor's Department.

The proposal has so far received a mixed reaction from the legal profession, despite civil liberties campaigners long arguing for such a move.

Commenting on the reforms, Bar Council chairman Geoffrey Vos QC said: "I personally support the stronger focus on a coordinated approach to the justice system that this new department will bring."

He added: "There will need to be a statutory guarantee of the independence of the judiciary and of the availability of resources sufficient to run a court system which delivers justice to all court users be they victims and witnesses, prosecution and defence, families, consumers or businesses."