The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has launched a new Online Procedure Rule Committee (OPRC) on 12 June 2023 in order to help guide judges, legal representatives and litigants through online court procedures. The OPRC will oversee the establishment of rules for proceedings taking place online across the Civil, Family and Tribunals jurisdictions as well as data and behavioural standards for online dispute resolution prior to proceedings being brought to a court or tribunal. Six members will make up the OPRC, including the judicial heads of the civil, family and tribunal jurisdictions. The committee will be chaired by the Master of the Rolls, Sir Geoffrey Vos. The OPRC is being constituted under the Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022 and will hold its first meeting on 26 June 2023.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has selected Cindy Butts as the preferred candidate for the newly created Independent Public Advocate (IPA) role, established under the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024. The position, subject to Justice Select Committee approval, carries a five-year term and powers to produce independent reports on major incidents, support victims through investigations and advise government on review processes. The IPA will oversee cases where the Secretary of State declares events have caused death or serious harm to significant numbers in England or Wales.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has published a draft remedial order to amend section 9 of the Human Rights Act 1998, (HRA 1998). This follows the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in SW v United Kingdom (Application No 87/18), which found violations of Articles 8 and 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The proposed amendment aims to address the statutory bar in HRA 1998, s 9(3), which currently prevents damages for judicial acts done in good faith, except in limited circumstances.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has published its 2025 Annual Prison Capacity statement, setting out updated projections for the prison population, forecasts for prison supply and an overview of staffing and probation capacity. The statement shows that, without the Sentencing Act, which recently received Royal Assent, demand for prison places would have exceeded supply, with capacity exhausted by June 2026. The Act also makes the publication of annual prison capacity statements a statutory requirement. The government has committed £7bn over five years to deliver 14,000 new prison places by 2031, with 2,900 places already delivered since July 2024. In addition, sentencing reforms are expected to reduce projected prison population growth by 7,500 by 2028.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has published its 2025 Areas of Research Interest (ARI), outlining the department’s key research priorities for the next three to five years, with the aim of fostering collaboration with academic experts and research networks to inform policy and operational decision-making. The identified priorities are structured around the department’s strategic objectives for the justice system: rebuilding confidence in the criminal justice system, upholding the rule of law and promoting legal services and delivering accessible and timely civil, family and administrative justice—with each priority area designed to support these objectives. The paper also highlights themes that cut across jurisdictions and policy areas, encouraging research that takes a holistic approach to improving outcomes across the system and emphasises the importance of ongoing engagement with the external research community as the evidence base and departmental needs evolve.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has published its ‘Counter Fraud Strategy 2026–2030’, setting out its approach to preventing, detecting and responding to fraud, bribery and corruption across the MoJ, its executive agencies and public bodies. The policy paper identifies insider threats, commercial risks, digital and technological risks, and threats from third-party actors as the main strategic risks. It focuses on governance and assurance, risk identification, control implementation and incident response, supported by measures to strengthen organisational capability and the use of data analytics. Planned measures include annually reviewing the MoJ’s enterprise fraud risk assessment, conducting detailed fraud risk assessments for major projects and programmes, strengthening data and intelligence sharing, creating a fraud control library by 2028 and piloting data analytics and artificial intelligence tools to detect fraud. The strategy responds to the changing nature of fraud and the growing role of technology and builds on the MoJ’s previous three-year strategy.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has published the Chief Coroner's Annual Report 2023. The report highlights the coroner’s efforts to ensure consistency in resource allocation and practices across coroner's offices in England and Wales, including training, guidance and engagement with stakeholders. The report also offers recommendations aimed at enhancing coroner services further.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has published the Chief Coroner’s Annual Report 2024, the first submitted by Her Honour Judge Alexia Durran following her appointment as Chief Coroner in May 2024. The report reviews the work of the coroner service across England and Wales during 2024 and highlights two priorities: addressing delays in cases lasting more than 12 months and improving the wellbeing and support available to coroners, including the creation of new lead roles. It notes a 10% fall in deaths reported to coroners compared with 2023, an increase in Prevention of Future Deaths reports and the introduction of the statutory medical examiner scheme. The report also covers disparities in resourcing and standards across coroner areas, security concerns at coroner’s courts, reforms to appointments and training, and the introduction of regional leadership coroners to improve consistency. Looking ahead, the Chief Coroner has committed to requiring jurisdictions to forecast long-duration cases and to prioritising measures to reduce stress and provide professional support for coroners.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has published the Chief Coroner’s Annual Report 2025, submitted by Her Honour Judge Alexia Durran. The report records that 147,814 deaths were referred to coroners in 2025, 15% fewer than in 2024. The average time to conclude an inquest remained stable at approximately 31 weeks. During the year, 647 Prevention of Future Deaths reports were published, compared with 707 in 2024. At the time of publication, responses to 23 reports remained outstanding, with recipients under a statutory obligation to respond within 56 days.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has published its Female Offender Strategy Delivery Plan for 2022 to 2025 which sets out the government’s four key priorities to reduce women’s offending over the period. The four key priorities in the Female Offender Strategy Delivery Plan are:

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has published an evaluation report, examining the HMCTS Reform Digital Services aimed at modernising seven civil, family, and tribunal services between 2016-2025. The report, conducted by Frontier Economics and IFF Research, found improved accessibility for public users but highlighted implementation challenges for legal professionals.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has published statutory guidance on Independent Sexual Violence Advisers (ISVAs) under the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 (VPA 2024). Published on 9 May 2025, the guidance sets out the role of ISVAs, detailing clear requirements for ISVA training, qualifications, and professional conduct. It also outlines how ISVAs should deliver victim support, collaborate with criminal justice agencies, and tailor their services to meet diverse needs. VPA 2024 requires persons who have functions of a public nature relating to victims or any other aspect of the criminal justice system (‘relevant professionals’ defined at para 3 of the guidance) to have regard to this guidance in the exercise of their functions. This duty excludes anyone acting in a judicial capacity. The guidance applies to relevant professionals in England. It applies to relevant professionals in Wales insofar as it relates to matters in Wales that are reserved to the UK Government, primarily policing, and criminal, civil and family justice.