Since its foundation JUSTICE has played a significant role in changing legal procedure and practice. Here are just some of our achievements:

1958 JUSTICE became the British section of the International Commission of Jurists. We continue to assist in the ICJ's work to ensure the rule of law in many countries.
 
1964 The Criminal Injuries Compensation Board was set up. We called for the establishment of criminal injuries compensation in our 1962 report, Compensation for Victims of Crimes of Violence.
 
1967 The first Ombudsman was appointed. In the early 1960s JUSTICE was amongst the first to call for the establishment of Ombudsmen in central and local government.
 
1975 The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act came into effect. The Act was based upon the recommendations of JUSTICE's report Living it Down (1972).
 
1984 The first Data Protection Act became law. JUSTICE first pressed for data protection controls in its 1970 report, Privacy and the Law.
 
1992 We called for an independent judicial appointments commission in our report The Judiciary in England and Wales. Our demands came to fruition in the Constitutional Reform Act 2005.
 
1997 The Criminal Cases Review Commission was set up, over thirty years after JUSTICE first called for an independent body to review alleged miscarriage of justice cases.
 
2000 The Human Rights Act 1998 came into full force. JUSTICE's then Director, Anne Owers, was a member of the Government's Task Force, and we were at the forefront of training for practitioners and public bodies. We continue to monitor the implications of the Act.
 
2005 The Freedom of Information Act 2000 came into force. For more than 25 years, JUSTICE had been urging greater rights to access to information held by public bodies, publishing a report, Freedom of Information, in 1978.
 
2006 The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 came into force, and with it three reforms long advocated by JUSTICE: the creation of a Supreme Court; a more transparent process for appointing judges; and the overhaul of the traditional role of the Lord Chancellor.
 
2007 We celebrated our 50th anniversary. Click here for further information.
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