Office for Access to Justice

Office for Access to Justice Organizational Chart

History

The Office for Access to Justice is a standalone agency within the U.S. Department of Justice that plans, develops, and coordinates the implementation of access to justice policy initiatives of high priority to the Department and the executive branch. The work of the office promotes equal justice for all and helps to solve limitations of legal representation throughout the criminal and civil legal systems.

Mission

The Office for Access to Justice works to break down barriers to the founding principle and enduring promise of the Department of Justice: equal justice under law. Our mission is to ensure access to the promises and protections of our civil and criminal legal systems for all communities.

Guiding Principles

The work of the Office for Access to Justice is guided by three guiding principles:

• Expanding Access. We expand access to legal systems by increasing the availability of legal assistance, and public defense.
• Accelerating Innovation. We support research, data, and innovative strategies to improve fairness and efficiency in legal systems and to ensure Justice Department services and programs incorporate modern, evidence-based practices to further equal access to justice.
• Safeguarding Integrity. We promote policies and reforms that improve the accountability, fiscal responsibility, and integrity of legal systems and process.

Major Functions

ATJ’s mission to ensure access to the promises and protections of our civil and criminal legal systems for all communities is carried out through a number of wide-ranging programs. A few programs are described below:

• Access DOJ: DOJ's Customer Experience (CX) Office
  Access DOJ is a Department-wide Office that makes DOJ's services easy, effective, and efficient for all Americans.
• Access to Justice Prize 
  The Access to Justice Prize is a year-long prize competition to promote innovative solutions to address the access to justice crisis. The 2025 Prize will focus on solutions that impact rural communities.
• Federal Government Pro Bono Program  
  ATJ leads the Federal Government Pro Bono Program, an interagency effort to encourage and support federal government attorneys and legal staff to engage in pro bono work and provides guidance and support to volunteers.