'Department of Justice' is explained in detail and with examples in the Laws & Regulations edition of the Herold Financial Dictionary, which you can get from Amazon in Ebook or Paperback edition.
The Department of Justice is the largest law office in the world. It is an executive department of the Federal government in the U.S. whose head is appointed by the President. This department holds responsibility for administering justice and enforcing the laws in the United States. This makes the department similar to other nations’ interior or justice ministries.
Head of the department is the U.S. Attorney General. The President nominates this individual whom the Senate later reviews, vets, and confirms. The attorney general is also a cabinet member for the President.
The mandate of the DOJ is to defend U.S interests with the law and to enforce the nation’s laws. They also are tasked with making sure the public is safeguarded from dangers that are either domestic or foreign. They set out policy for the federal government to help stop and control crime. DOJ also works to punish anyone who breaks the law and to make sure that all Americans receive unbiased, fair justice.
The history of this department goes back to the early founding of the country. A single part time individual filled the federal Office of the Attorney General that the Judiciary Act of 1789 created. Originally the roles of this position were limited to prosecuting lawsuits in the Supreme Court and to advising the President and his department heads on any concerns.
It did not take long for the work load to be too great for any single individual. At this point, the Attorney General hired a few assistants. Still the work expanded and the government chose to retain private attorneys to assist with the increasing number of cases.
Finally following the end of the Civil War in 1870 Congress saw that they were wasting enormous amounts of money by retaining a huge quantity of private attorneys to help with the litigation concerning the U.S. from the war. The Congress then wrote and passed the Act to Establish the Department of Justice. This set up an executive level department of the Federal government. The Attorney General became its head.
The act similarly provided the Attorney General with more help. It created an Office of the Solicitor General. This individual handles U.S. interests in front of the United States Supreme Court. The tasks of the Attorney General were specifically redirected to managing civil suits and criminal prosecutions where the U.S. had interests.
The DOJ has continued to add to the department’s structure in ensuing years since the 1870 Act founded it. Today there are also the offices of Associate Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General. Besides this there are numerous offices, divisions, boards, and components that make up the department. From humble beginnings as a single part time position, the DOJ has become the main enforcer of all Federal Laws today and grown into the biggest law office in the globe.
The Department of Justice has an important anti-trust division. This subdivision within the DOJ is responsible for enforcing the nation’s anti-trust laws. It also works with the Federal Trade Commission on civil types of anti-trust cases. Together they advise businesses in matters that pertain to offering regulatory forms of guidance.
When businesses are considering buying out or merging with another, they may need to get approval from the anti-trust division. If the deal creates a large and powerful new entity within an industry and threatens the ongoing competition it is especially the case. This is because this group oversees fair competition in industries around the United States.
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