ABSTRACT
The official 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 offenders to justice, and carrying out the orders of court, such as collecting fines and supervising community and custodial punishment. In November 2011 a National Audit Office (NAO) report into financial management at the Ministry of Justice, which is responsible for the CJS, revealed that Courts in England and Wales were owed £ 413 million in unpaid fines and £ 388 million in uncollected confiscation orders. The Ministry of Justice was created in 2007 to provide a stronger focus on the CJS, and to reduce re-offending. Many changes have been made since by the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008. The Criminal Justice Act 2003 made a number of changes to the law in respect of bail.
