Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeals Panel for Northern Ireland The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath) My right honourable friend the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice has made the following Written Ministerial Statement. On 1 December 2007, responsibility for certain functions in respect of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeals Panel for Northern Ireland transferred from the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to the Secretary of State for Justice. The transfer was effected by a machinery-of-government change. The Criminal Injury Compensation Appeals Panel for Northern Ireland was established under the Criminal Injuries Compensation (Northern Ireland) Order 2002 and hears appeals from the final decision of the Compensation Agency for Northern Ireland on applications for compensation made by, or in respect of, persons who have sustained criminal injury. Prior to the transfer on 1 December 2007, responsibility for the entire criminal injuries compensation scheme, which included the Compensation Agency for Northern Ireland and the Criminal Injury Compensation Appeals Panel for Northern Ireland, lay with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Responsibility for the Compensation Agency for Northern Ireland will remain with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. From 1 December 2007, responsibility for appointing, removing and remunerating the adjudicators who hear the appeals and the reporting, accounting and auditing arrangements in respect of Criminal Injuries Compensation Appeals Panel for Northern Ireland rests with the Secretary of State for Justice. Full details in relation to the statutory functions which have been transferred can be found on the Northern Ireland Court Service website www.courtsni.gov.uk.