The Ministry has an obligation under the Civil Service Commissioners Recruitment Code to ensure its recruitment processes are operating under open and fair principles. The MOJ only employs applicants who have the right to work in the UK, and an individual's nationality is verified before an offer of employment is made. Civil Service rules enable EEA nationals and certain non-EEA family members to be employed as Civil Servants. The Ministry of Justice does not hold central data in respect of the number of EU foreign nationals employed and they could be collected only at disproportionate costs.
There is also a provision that, in exceptional circumstances, foreign nationals, other than EEA nationals and certain non-EEA family members, may be employed by means of an aliens' certificate under the Aliens' Employment Act 1955. This Act empowers the employing Department's Minister, with the approval of the Minister for the Civil Service, to issue a certificate of employment in certain circumstances. Information on the number of staff employed under the Alien's Employment Act 1955 is collected. The Prison Service currently employs one person under the Act and approved by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice, with the consent of the Minister for the Civil Service.