Community Justice Scotland

What Community Justice Scotland does

Community Justice Scotland (CJS) is a statutory national body — an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government — established under the Community Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 and launched in 2017. It is headquartered in Edinburgh with 37 staff and operates exclusively within Scotland. Its mandate is to oversee and improve community justice, working alongside Scotland's 32 local authorities, the Scottish Government, and cross-sectoral partners in health, social services, and education to deliver community-based alternatives to custody, including Community Payback Orders, electronic monitoring, restorative justice programmes, and rehabilitation support for individuals involved with the justice system.

CJS does not sell software or services commercially; it is funded through Scottish Government public expenditure and provides its outputs free of charge. Its product portfolio is informational and educational rather than transactional. Core offerings include the main communityjustice.scot website, an interactive digital map of Scotland's Criminal Justice System featuring embedded real-user stories, a Learning Hub covering commissioning, employability, electronic monitoring, restorative justice, youth justice, and improvement, a Stories Hub of case studies, a Community Interventions and Support Directory for local services, a Communications Toolbox, and supporting campaigns such as the 'Second Chancers' exhibition, 'Life Changing Sentence', and the 'Our Justice Podcast'. A dedicated Section 26 Data Dashboard supports data and insights work, and a new Head of Insights and Intelligence role was created in April 2025 to formalise analytic capability.

Outcomes cited by CJS include a 71% successful completion rate for Community Payback Orders in 2024-25, a reconviction rate of 28.6% for community payback orders versus 53.2% for short custodial sentences in 2022-23, and approximately 12.5 million hours of unpaid work delivered to Scottish communities since 2011. As a public sector body, CJS does not have commercial revenue, private shareholders, or external funding rounds; it operates under the policy direction of Scottish Ministers and is accountable through published annual reports.

Name

Community Justice Scotland

Legal name

Community Justice Scotland

Website

https://communityjustice.scot

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Community Justice Scotland is a statutory national body of the Scottish Government that coordinates community-based justice across Scotland's 32 local authorities, delivering rehabilitation, restorative justice, and Community Payback Order oversight through educational, digital, and campaign resources.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Sector Criminal Justice Services

NAICS

Parole Offices and Probation Offices (922150), Parole Offices and Probation Offices (92215), Justice, Public Order, and Safety Activities (922)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Corrections (Probation, Parole & Reentry) (BPAIAFAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

State/Provincial Corrections, Probation & Parole Administration (BPAIABAF), Victim Services & Witness Assistance (Justice System) (BPAIAFAJ), Criminal Justice Reform & Legal System Advocacy (BPAGAFAI)

Keywords

• Community justice services
• Criminal justice reform
• Restorative justice
• Offender rehabilitation
• Victim support

Headquarters

HQ city

Edinburgh

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Community Justice Scotland is the statutory national body for community justice in Scotland, coordinating and improving community-based approaches to justice across the country's 32 local authorities. It delivers guidance, digital resources, an interactive criminal justice system map, a community interventions directory, a learning hub, and public awareness campaigns to reduce reoffending and address underlying causes of offending such as homelessness, substance use and family violence.

Product overview

Community Justice Scotland operates primarily as an informational and educational portal rather than a traditional software product. The core offering consists of the main website (communityjustice.scot) which serves as the central hub, supplemented by an interactive digital map tool for navigating Scotland's Criminal Justice System, a Learning Hub for educational content, a Stories Hub featuring real-life case studies, and a Community Interventions and Support Directory. Additional offerings include podcasts, campaigns (Second Chancers, Life Changing Sentence), and resource toolboxes. The portfolio functions as a suite of information resources, digital tools, and engagement platforms designed to educate stakeholders and promote community-based justice alternatives.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Second Chancers: A campaign and exhibition showcasing stories of individuals who have transformed their lives after involvement with the justice system.
• Life Changing Sentence
• Our Justice Podcast
• Justice, Disrupted
• Justice Journeys

Products and services

• Scotland's Criminal Justice System Digital Map Interactive digital guide that maps the Scottish criminal justice system in full, illustrating the complexity and stages from alleged crime through investigation, prosecution, sentencing and beyond, with embedded real user stories for stakeholders and the public.
• Community Interventions and Support Directory Searchable directory of local authority community justice services across Scotland, allowing users to find interventions and support available in their area and enabling local authorities to add, update or delete their service information.
• Learning Hub Educational platform offering focus areas, events, training and data insights on commissioning, community justice, electronic monitoring, employability, improvement, restorative justice, the Scottish justice system and youth justice for practitioners and partners.
• Stories Hub Collection of real-life stories from individuals who have experienced the justice system, showcasing the effect community-based approaches have made on lives across Scotland.
• Communications Toolbox Resource toolkit providing communications materials and guidance for stakeholders involved in delivering or advocating community justice in Scotland.
• Our Justice Podcast Podcast series sharing stories and discussions about community justice topics in Scotland as part of the Get Involved initiative.

Quantifiable outcome

• 71% successful completion rate for Community Payback Orders (2024-25)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Scottish GovernmentcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity Justice Scotland works with the Scottish Government on the Restorative Justice Action Plan and broader justice policy implementation. The organization is a statutory national body established to support and monitor community justice across Scotland.
• Scottish Government (Restorative Justice Action Plan)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCJS has worked with the Scottish Government on the Restorative Justice Action Plan to support greater access to consistent and effective restorative justice, implementing the plan and training others to work in this field.
• Justice PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHealth, social services, education and justice services work together under CJS coordination to find solutions to problems contributing to criminal behaviour including homelessness, substance use and family violence.
• Scottish Local AuthoritiescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner32 local authorities across Scotland deliver community justice services including Community Payback Orders, with CJS providing national coordination, guidance, and support for improvement.
• Reducing Offending, Reducing Inequality (ROiri) Programme PartnersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRORI collates health and social determinants of offending in the context of reducing health inequalities in Scotland, aligning to the ambitions of the National Community Justice Strategy and Community Justice (Scotland) Act 2016.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service: Body responsible for the administration of courts in Scotland. Comparable as a publicly-funded national justice administration organization in Scotland, with overlapping stakeholders and a complementary (rather than directly competitive) role to CJS.

Broad incumbents

• Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service: Scotland's prosecution service and central legal body. Comparable as a statutory national body within the Scottish justice system with policy and operational reach that intersects with CJS's sentencing and community justice mandate.
• His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS): UK government agency responsible for prisons and probation in England and Wales. Closest large-scale analogue to CJS's combined community/custodial oversight function, though at much greater scale and serving a different jurisdiction.

Emerging players

• Prison Reform Trust: UK charity working to create a just, humane and effective penal system with strong focus on community alternatives. Comparable in advocacy and evidence-building role to CJS, but operating UK-wide rather than Scotland-specific.
• Howard League for Penal Reform: UK penal reform charity advocating for less reliance on custody and greater use of community sentences. Comparable in mission alignment with CJS's community justice advocacy and evidence-led approach, though operating as a campaigning charity rather than a statutory body.

Direct peers

• Scottish Prison Service: Executive agency of the Scottish Government responsible for operating prisons. Highly comparable as the custodial counterpart to Community Justice Scotland's community-based mandate; both sit within the Scottish justice system and serve overlapping populations.
• Victim Support Scotland: Scotland's leading victim support charity, providing services to victims and witnesses of crime. Comparable as a Scotland-based justice-sector support organization addressing one of CJS's stated priority populations.
• HM Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland: Independent inspectorate providing scrutiny of prisons and detention in Scotland. Comparable to CJS as a national oversight body operating in the Scottish justice sector with a statutory mandate, though focused on custodial inspection rather than community alternatives.
• Sacro: Scottish charity delivering community-based criminal justice services including mediation, restorative justice and offender supervision. Comparable as a Scottish community justice service provider operating in overlapping territory to CJS's coordination remit.
• Restorative Justice Council: UK-wide membership body setting standards and providing accreditation for restorative justice practitioners. Comparable as a quality-and-standards body for one of CJS's core service areas (restorative justice) and a key implementation partner.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/community-justice-scotland

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Community Justice Scotland