Local Criminal Justice Boards
From SR
At a local level, the work of the Criminal Justice System agencies is co-ordinated by 42 Local Criminal Justice Boards (LCJBs) across England and Wales. These boards bring together the chief officers of the CJS agencies to co-ordinate activity and share responsibility for delivering criminal justice in their areas.
Each Local Criminal Justice Board has a Circuit Judge who sits in the area, as a Liaison Judge. The Judge is not a member of the board as to be so would be incompatible with the independent position of the judiciary. However the Judge receives all the minutes of the meetings and is encouraged to attend certain of the meetings when particular issues relating to the judiciary or the judicial system are raised.
The key objectives of the Local Criminal Justice Boards include reassuring the public and boosting confidence - especially that of victims and witnesses - in the criminal justice system, by reducing the fear of crime and the adverse effects of being a victim of crime.
In many areas the Local Criminal Justice Board has been responsible for having open days when the public is invited into local courts and watch or take part in mock trials and other court hearings. Judges play an active part in such open days both in mock hearings and in meeting the public and answering questions about the law, court procedures and the life of a Judge. These days seem to be very popular with the public who attend in considerable numbers.
LCJB membership comprises representatives from the Court Service, the Crown Prosecution Service, the Police, the Prison Service, the National Probation Service and youth offending teams (YOTs).
LCJBs are the key local partnerships responsible for securing improvement against a centrally agreed crime and criminal justice performance targets. These are:
- offences brought to justice
- recorded crime levels
- detected crimes that involve the offender facing a sanction such as a court appearance, police caution or fixed penalty fine
- victim and witness support
- ineffective trials
- public confidence in the Criminal Justice System
- persistent young offender target for the amount of time that should elapse between arrest and charge of persistent young offenders.
They also now have responsibility for local delivery against targets in relation to:
- fine recovery
- court attendance
- effective execution of warrants
- recovery of assets under the Proceeds of Crime Act
- community penalty enforcement.
LCJBs are accountable to the National Criminal Justice Board (NCJB) and the Office for Criminal Justice Reform.
