The Department of Home Affairs has launched a consultation on amending legislation relating to the island’s criminal justice system.
The Justice Reform (Amendment) Bill 2025 proposes changes to the Justice Reform Act 2021 and a number of other pieces of related legislation.
It also proposes some technical changes and other updates to other important areas of law.
Justice Reform
The original aim of the Justice Reform Act 2021 was to modernise the criminal justice system to reflect the aspirations in the Criminal Justice Strategy.
It also aligned some areas of existing Manx law with relevant England and Wales legislation.
The Justice Reform Act was given Royal Assent in 2021, having passed through the legislative process.
The Act itself comprises nine distinct and largely self-contained Parts. Several Parts of this Act are already in force.
Most of the Bill contains technical adjustments to existing policy to enable the provisions to be brought into force and operate properly.
‘Large & Technical’
Minister for Justice and Home Affairs Jane Poole-Wilson MHK said: “I am very pleased to bring forward this draft Bill, which I appreciate is large and technical but I believe presents an excellent opportunity to enable some of the agreed, modernising provisions to be brought in to force, as well as making some new improvements to our system.
“I would like to thank the various partners that make up the criminal justice system who have supported the development of this Bill up to this point.
“I would like to encourage and welcome anyone to respond to this consultation to help us make sure the Bill makes the positive difference we are aiming for.”
The public consultation on the Bill is available here.
6 Comments