Tag: Ministry of Justice

The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 2 September 2025.

The Sentencing Council will be unable to issue new guidelines without the explicit approval of the Justice Secretary, strengthening democratic oversight of the body. The approval of the Lady Chief Justice will also be required before new guidelines are issued.

Today’s news follows a disagreement between the Justice Secretary and Sentencing Council earlier this year over planned new guidelines which the Justice Secretary argued would result in “a clear example of differential treatment” and risked “undermining public confidence in a justice system that is built on the idea of equality before the law”.

While a new law introduced in June blocked these sentencing guidelines, the Justice Secretary is clear the Council should not be allowed to stray into setting policy without the direction of Parliament and committed to “right the democratic deficit that has been uncovered”.

As part of the Sentencing Bill, introduced in the House of Commons today, both the Justice Secretary and the Lady Chief Justice will be given individual – and separate – powers requiring them to approve any future guidelines before they can be issued.

Enshrined in law, this means any new directive issued by the Sentencing Council will require the explicit approval of both. If the either oppose the guidance, it will not be issued.

The new powers will end a historic democratic deficit, ensuring Parliament’s legitimate role in setting the sentencing framework is recognised and upheld, while maintaining and strengthening judicial and democratic oversight.

Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice Shabana Mahmood said:

Individual sentencing decisions will always be the responsibility of the independent judiciary – and this is something I will staunchly defend.

However, policy must be set by parliamentarians, who answer to the people.

Government and Parliament have a legitimate role in setting the sentencing framework. It is right that we now have greater democratic and judicial oversight of the direction of the Council’s work and the final guidelines they publish.

The move forms part of wider reforms to sentencing policy as set out in today’s Sentencing Bill. This landmark legislation also includes measures to ensure prisons never run out of space again, including Texas-style earned release sentences and bold new action to toughen up community punishment.

This comes alongside the Government’s prison building programme, the largest expansion in the estate since the Victorian era. The Government has already opened 2,500 new places since taking office, and has invested £7bn in construction, on track to deliver 14,000 places by 2031.

Tens of thousands more offenders will also be tagged and monitored thanks to a huge boost in investment for the Probation Service, with an increase of up to £700 million by 2028/29, up 45 percent from the current budget.

There will also be a requirement for the Council to seek approval from the Justice Secretary of its annual business plan. The reforms do not interfere with the independence of judges in making individual sentencing decisions.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 29 August 2025.

A Devon jail is set to almost double in size as the Government ploughs ahead with the largest prison building programme since the Victoria era.

• Two new houseblocks to be built at HMP Channings Wood by end of 2027
• Jail’s capacity boosted by 40 per cent to lock up dangerous criminals.
• Latest step in Government’s plans to build 14,000 prison places nationwide, as part of the Plan for Change.

Work is underway on the 500-place expansion at HMP Channings Wood, which will see the prison grow by around 40 per cent with two new four-storey houseblocks.

The new cells will be fully operational by the end of 2027 and will help ensure there is always enough space for dangerous offenders – cutting crime and keeping the public safe.

The major project will also include the construction of a new jobs and education workshop, training prisoners with the skills they need to turn their backs on crime for good.

Today’s news represents a significant milestone in the Government’s aims to build 14,000 additional prison places by 2031 – with around 2,500 of these having already been built since July 2024.

The build will also create hundreds of jobs in the South West, with an additional 200 permanent jobs expected at the prison once the houseblock is complete.

Minister for Prisons, Probation, and Reducing Reoffending, Lord James Timpson said:

This Government inherited a capacity crisis in our prisons.

We will never let that happen again, ensuring there is always space in our jails for dangerous offenders, part of our Plan for Change.

We’ve delivered 2,500 new places in the last year, on track for 14,000 by 2031. In the fourteen years to April 2024, only 500 places were added to our estate. This new site alone will provide that many.

The project will be delivered by Kier, a leading provider of infrastructure services, construction and property developments.

Rebecca Boundy, Managing Director (Justice) at Kier Construction, said:

We’re proud to be a trusted delivery partner for the government, supporting expansion plans here at HMP Channings Wood and across the UK prison estate.

After recently completing HMP Millsike and starting work on expansion projects at HMP Northumberland and HMP Lancaster Farms, our specialist teams are delivering high-quality, state-of-the-art prison accommodation and facilities that are fit for the future.”

Offenders at the prison have also undertaken training by Kier – earning qualifications to work in construction on release to keep them on the straight and narrow.

The construction follows the opening of the around 1,500-capacity prison in Yorkshire, HMP Millsike, in March. The Government is investing £4.7 billion to deliver these prison builds, whilst investing up to a further £300 million towards vital building maintenance across prisons and the probation service in this financial year.

The prison building programme will work alongside the upcoming sentencing reforms to ensure there is always a cell to lock up the most dangerous offenders.

Background

• The houseblocks will provide 494 places.
• Other key stakeholders in the programme include Mace and Gleeds.
• The Government is investing £4.7 billion to deliver these prison builds over this spending review period (2026/27 – 2029/30).

The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 28 August 2025.

A new leadership team, bolstered staff training and improved safeguarding have been put in place at Oakhill Secure Training Centre, following concerns raised by inspectors last month.

• Bolstered support to include strengthened safeguarding and staff training
• Extra investment in healthcare provision and mental health support
• New leadership team appointed with extensive youth custody experience

The centre in Milton Keynes, operated by G4S, was issued an Urgent Notification in July by Ofsted, HM Inspectorate of Prisons, and the Care Quality Commission. The report detailed living conditions below standard, inadequate mental health support and poor safeguarding systems.

The Youth Custody Service has today (28 August) published a detailed action plan to urgently address these concerns.  Developed in partnership with G4S, the plan seeks to fundamentally improve safety and standards at the centre.

This includes G4S installing a new leadership structure and a Governing Governor from YCS directly taking responsibility for overseeing improvements.  Staff will also receive improved training to better deal with conflict and violence, and a review of all safeguarding referrals will ensure appropriate action has been taken in every case.

Sir Nic Dakin, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Sentencing and Youth Justice, said:

The serious failings found at Oakhill STC are unacceptable. Every young person in custody must feel safe, supported, and be treated with care.

G4S is already taking urgent steps to deliver necessary improvements, and this action plan gives them the support they need to turn the centre around. We will not hesitate to take further action if needed.

The centre is also undergoing major refurbishments to living conditions, identifying areas requiring repair and prioritising residential units. Healthcare provision is also being bolstered with extra specialist staff including for mental health support.

Staff who have been implicated in serious wrongdoing have been suspended.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 28 August 2025.

Reoffending by burglars, robbers and thieves has been cut by 20 percent thanks to the tracking of their movements with tags, a new report has found.

Reoffending by burglars, robbers and thieves has been cut by 20 percent thanks to the tracking of their movements with tags, a new report published today (August 28) has found.

The study shows those forced to wear a GPS tag on release from prison were significantly more like to stay on the straight and narrow, meaning less crime, fewer victims and safer streets.

As part of the scheme, the movements of these offenders are monitored and mapped against the locations of recent unsolved burglaries, robberies or thefts.

Any matches are shared with the police to help them investigate the crime and potential suspects, meaning the tag serves as a powerful deterrent to reoffending.

By harnessing innovative tech, this project is helping to protect communities and support smarter policing, part of the Government’s Plan for Change to make our streets safer.

Eliminating suspects early on through GPS tagging has also freed up police to focus on other suspects and investigate more crimes, with the evidence suggesting that the pilot helped police to avoid carrying out roughly 16,000 unnecessary adult arrests over three years.

The findings come as the latest figures showed that almost 20,000 offenders and defendants were wearing an electronic tag as of June 2025, a record high.

Tagging will be ramped up even further as part of the Government’s sentencing reforms with the annual probation budget increased by up to £700 million by 2028, to tag thousands more offenders.

Minister of State for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending, Lord Timpson, said:

The evidence is clear that tagging works, acting as a constant reminder to thieves and burglars that we are watching their every move and will know if they reoffend.

We are increasing the use of tagging as part of our Plan for Change to toughen punishment, prevent crime and make our streets safer.

The pilot deliberately targets “acquisitive” crimes such as burglary, theft and robbery, which are offence types which have among the worst charge and conviction rates.

Evidence suggests the pilot acted as an effective deterrent, with just 160 out of 3,360 offenders convicted due to their movements being mapped to unsolved crimes.

The technology also allows probation staff to keep a much closer eye on the whereabouts of offenders under their supervision so they are better able to prevent them from falling back into a life of crime.

Last week it was revealed that the number of probation officers has increased by seven per cent in the last 12 months, with trainee officer numbers also seeing a surge of 15 per cent.

This follows a pledge by the Lord Chancellor to recruit an additional 1,300 Probation Officers by March 2026 as part of a major boost of support for the Probation Service.

Alan, an offender who is currently on a GPS tag, said:

The second that tag went on my ankle I had that feeling that someone was watching me every second of the day.

It let me get on with my life knowing if I fell back into my old habits I could be back in a jail cell.

Evidence is increasingly proving the effectiveness of tags as a robust way to closely monitor offenders in the community, therefore cutting crime and protecting victims.

A report in March 2025 found that offenders on curfew tags, which keep offenders at home and off the streets during certain times, were also 20% less likely to commit another crime.

Meanwhile statistics show offenders wearing alcohol tags, which monitor whether or not they are drinking, stay sober for 97% of the days they are tagged.

The Government is also exploring broader uses of technology in the justice system to monitor offenders and reduce reoffending.

Under the Ministry of Justice’s AI Action Plan, artificial intelligence will be used to assess offender risk and place dangerous individuals under tighter supervision—cutting crime and delivering swifter justice for victims.

This follows the Government’s response to the Independent Sentencing Review, which recommended greater use of technology and community sentencing to address the inherited crisis in the prison system.

Further information:

• The Impact Evaluation of the Acquisitive Crime Electronic Monitoring Project: 12 Month+ Cohort found male prison leavers enrolled in the project were associated with a seven percentage point decline in the rate of reoffending within 12 months of release (from 33.2% to 26.2%). Read more here.
• The Acquisitive Crime pilot began in 2021 and is currently available in 19 of 43 police force areas, namely; Avon & Somerset, Cheshire, Gloucestershire, Gwent, Humberside, West Midlands, Bedfordshire, City of London, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Durham, Essex, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Metropolitan Police, North Wales, Nottinghamshire and Sussex.
• As of 02 June 2025, the total number of offenders and defendants fitted with an electronic monitoring device was 19,983. Read more here.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 23 August 2025.

Criminals will be barred from pubs, concerts and sports matches under new sentencing powers.

Criminals will be barred from pubs, concerts and sports matches under new sentencing powers unveiled by the Government today (Sunday 24 August) as part of its Plan for Change.

Judges will be able to curtail offenders’ freedoms with driving limits, travel bans and restriction zones confining them into specific areas.

The changes will toughen up community punishments to deter reoffending and force offenders back onto the straight-and-narrow.

As part of the Government’s work to do everything in its power to keep Britain safe, offenders coming out of prison and supervised by the Probation Service will also face similar restrictions and an expanded mandatory drug testing regime.

In future, criminals without known drug habits will face this scrutiny, not just those with a history of substance misuse.

Offenders who break the rules face being brought back to court or hauled back to prison as punishment depending on the sentence they are serving.

Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said:

Widening the range of punishments available to judges is part of our Plan for Change to cut crime and make streets safer.

When criminals break society’s rules, they must be punished. Those serving their sentences in the community must have their freedom restricted there too.

These new punishments should remind all offenders that, under this Government, crime does not pay.

Rightly, the public expect the government to do everything in its power to keep Britain safe, and that’s what we’re doing.

Currently, judges are able to give out limited bans for specific crimes, for example football bans for crimes committed inside a stadium on match day, to prevent further antisocial behaviour.

The Government will change the law shortly so such bans can be handed down as a form of punishment for any offence in any circumstance.

It will form part of wider reforms to sentencing to ensure punishments cut crime and prisons never again run out of places for dangerous offenders.

Over 2,400 prison places have opened since July 2024 with the Government investing £7 billion to create a total of 14,000 as the prison population increases.

Investment in the Probation Service will also receive a huge boost with an increase of up to £700 million by 2028/29, up from the annual budget of around £1.6 billion today.

This week it was revealed the number of Probation Officers has increased by seven per cent in the last 12 months, with trainee probation officer numbers also seeing a surge of 15 per cent. This follows the Government’s commitment to recruit a further 1,300 this year, in addition to the 1,000 trainee probation officers recruited last year.

New technology, including artificial intelligence, will lighten the administrative burden and free up time for probation staff to increase supervision of the most dangerous offenders and keep the public safe.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 15 August 2025.

Extra specialist staff, a bolstered senior leadership team and improved training for frontline officers will be deployed urgently at HMP Pentonville.

The jail received an Urgent Notification in July, with inspectors finding poor living conditions, prisoners not being released at the end of their sentence due to administrative errors, and inadequate support for prisoners at risk of self-harm.

The Prison Service has today (15 August) published a new action plan in direct response to the notification – with the aim of drastically driving up safety and standards at the prison.

The prison’s senior management will be bolstered with a dedicated lead responsible for overseeing work to address the inspector’s concerns. A review to minimise sentence calculation errors and ensure prisoners are released on time has already been completed.

The prison has intensified its cleaning regime and is auditing every cell to ensure it meets at least a minimum required standard. Additional specialist staff have been deployed to better support vulnerable prisoners and the regime.

Lord Timpson, Minister for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending, said:

The Chief Inspector’s findings at HMP Pentonville were deeply concerning and reflect the scale of the crisis we inherited across our prison system.

During my recent visit I saw that the prison and its staff are already working hard to deliver urgent improvements and this action plan will make sure they get the support they need.

The prison will also refurbish showers, drainage systems and other common areas.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 10 August 2025.

Foreign criminals will for the first time face immediate deportation after sentencing as the Government strengthens border security through the Plan for Change.

The new power announced today (10 August) will get foreign national offenders out of our prisons, saving money for British taxpayers and protecting the public from dangerous criminals.

The change follows legislation introduced by the Government in June, which will mean most foreign prisoners can now be deported after serving 30 percent of their prison time, rather than 50 percent.

Today, the Government has announced it will go even further—stripping back a decades-old law to introduce new powers for immediate deportation from prison. Offenders who are deported are barred from re-entering the UK, keeping their victims and the wider public safe. Terrorists, murderers and others serving life sentences will continue to have to serve their prison sentence before being considered for deportation.

Ramping up removals of foreign national offenders has been a priority for this Government with almost 5,200 deported since July 2024 – an increase of 14% compared to the same 12 months prior. We have also invested £5 million for the deployment of specialist staff to almost 80 jails with one clear mission – speeding up removals. These are all now in post.

This is part of our Plan for Change to fix the broken criminal justice system we inherited and make our streets safer. This includes building 14,000 more prison places, reforming sentencing and ensuring victims get the support they need.

Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said:

This Government is taking radical action to deport foreign criminals, as part of our Plan for Change. Deportations are up under this Government, and with this new law they will happen earlier than ever before.

Our message is clear: if you abuse our hospitality and break our laws, we will send you packing.

These measures build on broader work during the Government’s first year in office to deliver on the British public’s priorities for border security and ramp up returns which has now seen 35,000 people with no right to be here returned since the election, including over 5,000 FNOs.

The changes will apply to prisoners serving fixed-term, or determinate, sentences and discretion to not use the measure on a case-by-case basis will be retained. For example, where there is clear evidence a prisoner is planning further crimes against UK interests such as posing a threat to national security they will not be released.

Foreign offenders make up around 12% percent of the total prison population with prison places costing £54,000 a year on average.

The measures will apply to all foreign national offenders already in custody as well as those newly sentenced, ensuring that taxpayers’ money will not be wasted on incarcerating foreign criminals in the future.

We are committed to further ramping up returns activity, including exploring returns hubs, introducing a ground-breaking new returns treaty with France which will see small boat arrivals detained and returned to France, and will set out major reforms to the asylum appeals system later this year, working with a range of countries to strengthen law enforcement, border security and returns.

Our Immigration White Paper will end the addiction to cheap overseas labour that saw net migration explode to nearly one million in recent years by replacing it with an immigration system that is controlled, selective and fair and boosting opportunities for homegrown talent. The White Paper also includes plans to introduce legislation that tightens the application of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and sets out reforms to make it easier to remove foreign criminals convicted of any offence before the threat they pose escalates.

The changes to enable the immediate deportation of foreign prisoners require primary legislation and will be brought before Parliament in due course.

Further information

• In May, the Independent Sentencing Review recommended the law change so most foreign prisoners could be deported after serving 30 percent of their prison time, rather than 50 percent, and up to four years before their release, rather than the current 18 months.
• The Government laid secondary legislation in June and this is expected to come into force in September, at which point prisoners with no right to be in the country will face deportation 30% into their prison part of their sentence rather than the current 50%.
• This will be reduced to 0% once the primary legislation this power requires is in force.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 8 August 2025.

The Lord Chancellor has approved the reappointments of His Honour Jeremy Roberts KC and His Honour Peter Rook KC to the Parole Board.

His Honour Jeremy Roberts KC has been reappointed for a period of 2 years from 1 August 2025 until 31 July 2027.

His Honour Peter Rook KC has been reappointed for a period of 4 years from 1 February 2026 until 31 January 2030.

The Parole Board is an executive Non-Departmental Public Body sponsored by the Ministry of Justice. It works with its criminal justice partners to protect the public by risk assessing prisoners to decide whether they can be safely released into the community. It was established by the Criminal Justice Act 1967.

Parole Board members are appointed, by ministers, under the Criminal Justice Act 2003. Appointments and reappointments to the Parole Board (with the exception of judicial members) are regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

Biographies

His Honour Jeremy Roberts KC

His Honour Jeremy Roberts KC has enjoyed a distinguished judicial career, including a decade of service as a judge at the Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey) from 2001 to 2011. He was called to the Bar in 1964 and took Silk in 1982. He has also served as a Recorder and Tutor Judge, demonstrating a longstanding commitment to the legal profession.

His Honour Jeremy Roberts KC was first appointed as a judicial member of the Parole Board in 2010.

His Honour Peter Rook KC

His Honour Peter Rook KC was called to the Bar in 1973 and took Silk in 1991. In June 2005, he was appointed a Senior Circuit Judge to sit at the Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey) retiring in 2017. He also sat as a judge in the Court of Appeal. He sat as a Coroner between 2017 and 2019. He sat as a judge in retirement until September 2024. He was appointed Parole Board Vice Chair in January 2020 and will serve in this role until 5 December 2025.

His Honour Peter Rook KC was Chair of the Criminal Bar Association from 2002 until 2003. He was Head of Chambers, at 18 Red Lion Chambers, from 2002 until 2005. He is the co-author of a leading textbook now in its sixth edition “Sexual Offences: Law and Practice” – seventh edition to be published in 2025.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 8 August 2025.

New restriction zones will curb the freedoms of the most serious sexual and violent offenders by ‘locking’ them into specific areas where necessary.

Under plans outlined today (Friday 8 August), offenders will be pinned down to certain areas with tough monitoring supported by proven technology – with the possibility of time behind bars for those who breach restrictions.

This will provide an additional tool to protect victims from the most serious offenders. Whilst existing “exclusion zones” are a valuable tool to stop offenders from entering a location where their victim lives, new “restriction zones” go further and instead limit the movement of offenders, who are confined to an agreed area, allowing victims to travel anywhere else without fear of meeting their offender.

Probation officers will conduct a detailed risk assessment and work hand-in-hand with victims on the creation of restriction zones, making sure zones prevent contact while giving survivors the maximum freedom to rebuild their lives.

The change was announced after Victims Minister Alex Davies-Jones visited the charity Advance, which supports women and girls who have experienced trauma from domestic abuse to rebuild their lives in their communities.

Minister for Victims and Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls, Alex Davies-Jones, said:

Through our Plan for Change, we’re putting victims first.

This move will strengthen safeguards for victims. I’ve heard firsthand how this innovative approach will give them the peace of mind they deserve and rebuild their lives without fear.

Wider reforms throughout the probation system will also see tens of thousands more offenders tagged – backed by a huge boost in funding of up to £700 million by 2028/29.

In addition, at least 1,300 new trainee probation officers will be brought in next year to increase capacity and new technology will lighten the administrative burden and free up time for workers to effectively supervise the most dangerous offenders and keep the public safe.

Diana Parkes CBE and Hetti Barkworth-Nanton CBE, who are co-founders of the Joanna Simpson Foundation, said:

For far too long, victims have had to reshape their lives to avoid their offenders. Exclusion zones have made victims feel trapped as though they are the ones serving a sentence, with the victim carrying the weight of someone else’s crime.

This announcement from the Ministry of Justice is the much-needed change that has long been called for and is a powerful step forward. By placing restrictions on offenders instead, this will now give survivors the freedom they deserve to live, move and heal without fear. It will also be more cost-effective for those monitoring the perpetrators as they will be locked in specific areas rather than having to monitor the exclusion zones where the victims live.

We are proud to have campaigned for this reform over the course of many years, including in our meeting with the Lord Chancellor and Victims Minister earlier this year, and truly grateful to the Ministry of Justice for listening, for believing in change and for putting survivors first.

In order to further protect victims and ensure they see justice done, there will be further changes to:

• Increase tagging for domestic perpetrators – enabling the closer monitoring of cowardly abusers to reassure victims and remove the onus from them to prove breaches have occurred.
• Identify perpetrators of domestic abuse at sentencing – requiring judges to flag domestic abuse at sentencing so prisons, probation and police can better identify and manage abusers.
• Expand Specialist Domestic Abuse Courts – bolstering support for victims and ensuring their abusers are properly supervised and rehabilitated.
• Bolster transparency for victims at sentencing – including the provision of free copies of judges’ sentencing remarks for victims of rape and other sexual offences, and ensuring they receive the information and support they need to navigate the criminal justice system.

This builds on action the government has already taken to meet its commitment to halve violence against women and girls in a decade, including:

• A National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection backed by £13.1 million to enable policing to better target these crimes.
• Raneem’s Law which embeds domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms in the first five police forces to improve the police response to domestic abuse.
• Nearly £20 million in funding for specialist VAWG services which support victims of abuse including a range of vital helplines.
• Introducing a new criminal offence for spiking and new spiking training for thousands of pub, club and bar staff to ensure they have the skills to support victims and prevent incidents.
• Launched new Domestic Abuse Protection Orders in select police forces and courts. These orders enable victims to obtain protection for as long as needed, cover all forms of domestic abuse and can impose tougher restrictions on perpetrators including electronic monitoring and mandating assessments for perpetrator programmes.
• New measures to tackle stalking, including giving police guidance on a victim’s right to know the identity of online stalkers for the first time and widening the use of Stalking Protection Orders.
• The roll out of The Drive Project across England and Wales which, backed by £53 million, will target high-harm, high-risk domestic abuse perpetrators – taking the responsibility for the abuse away from the victim and putting it firmly on the perpetrator where it belongs.
• Criminalising pornography that depicts acts of strangulation through the Crime and Policing Bill.

The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 1 August 2025.

Businesses will benefit from faster and cheaper dispute resolution as major reforms to arbitration law come into effect today.

The modernisation of the Arbitration Act is set to boost the UK economy by millions while creating new employment opportunities within the legal sector.

The new law will reinforce Britain’s position as the world’s number one destination for arbitration – building on London’s status as the globally preferred location for these services over competitors like Singapore, Hong Kong and Paris.

This will attract further investment to the UK’s £42.6 billion legal services economy and create highly-skilled jobs, supporting the sector’s existing 384,000 workforce.

Minister for Courts and Legal Services, Sarah Sackman KC MP, said:

Businesses around the world already look to the UK as the gold standard in arbitration, and this new law cements our place as the global jurisdiction of choice – competing globally and keeping British companies on top.

As part of our Plan for Change, we will continue to drive new business straight into the UK to boost jobs and support economic growth.

As the largest legal services market in Europe, international arbitration represents a major growth sector for the UK economy. England and Wales handle at least 5,000 domestic and international arbitrations annually, contributing £2.5 billion in fees alone.

From today, arbitrators have the power to dismiss weak cases quickly, preventing businesses from wasting time and money on disputes with no chance of success.

The reforms also require arbitrators to declare any potential conflicts of interest upfront, ensuring fairer outcomes for businesses.

Courts have gained new powers to better support the arbitration process, while simplified procedures will cut delays and costs for all parties involved.

The Arbitration Act received Royal Assent in February and has now been fully implemented.

Cristen Bauer, Director of External Affairs, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators

As the leading professional body globally for dispute resolvers, we are delighted to see the Arbitration Act 2025 come into force. We commend the Government’s commitment to modernise the Arbitration Act and to engage in a collaborative reform process with stakeholders from across the dispute resolution ecosystem.

Ciarb is proud to have contributed to this important reform and stands ready to support the global arbitration community in harnessing the full potential of this new framework. This milestone not only strengthens arbitration in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, but also reinforces global efforts to uphold high standards of fairness, efficiency, and integrity across the profession.