The fact that all is not well in Criminal Justice system  in India is known to all concerned. One of the important factors responsible for such not very effective delivery of justice to the needy has been found to be lack of overall comprehension, coordination, mutual trust, holistic approach among various subsystems of Criminal Justice Administration. Although several measures have been initiated during the last few years much has to be done to overcome these problems. In order to bring better understanding and cooperation between the officers of these subsystems by bringing them together to a common platform for a considerable period so that each one of them can understand other's limitations, problems, prognostications and thus pave way for a universal approach with a common goal of dispensing qualitative justice to the common man, a professional diploma course in Criminal Justice was started for the first time in the country at Andhra University, Waltair in the year 1994. This was a combined effort of the men with vision representing all the components of Criminal Justice system. The in-service officers from the Police, Prosecution, Prisions, Courts and Forensic Sciences were encouraged by the Government to study this course by an order of the Government permitting them study leave with full-pay and allowances.
The Professional diploma course aimed to develop the necessary interface relations between the four wings of Criminal Justice system i.e., Police, Prosecution, Judiciary and correctional services. Emboldened by the success of the course, Andhra University, which is the only University in the country which offered one-year Post Graduate Diploma in Criminal Justice has upgraded the course into a Two-year Master of Arts from the academic year 2000-2001 with a view to create a new generation of personnel who should have a holistic view of Criminal Justice dispensation, with an emphasis on human rights.
This course has been started under the guidance of Dr. K.P.C.Gandhi, Director of the A.P. State Forensic Science Laboratories,Hyderabad. M.A. in Criminal Justice has an intake of 30 students, 16 of whom are fresh graduates, 8 in-service candidates and 6 from out of state. Diploma holders of this course are permitted to join the second year M.A. in Criminal Justice without the entrance test, and for them extra seats will be provided. Admission for this self-financing course will be based on an entrance test (75 marks) and viva voce (25 marks). The annual fee is Rs. 16,000/-
Apart from the subjects offered in the Post Graduate Dipoma in Criminal Justice (PGD CJ), the M.A. in Criminal Justice has two specialization subjects - Security Management and Forensic Psychology. A Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) was entered with John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University, New York in 1998 for institutionalizing a permanent cooperation devoted to academic exchange in the interest of teachers, scholars and students. John Jay College, New York is the best of its kind in the World and its graduates are in great demand all over Europe in the field of Criminal Justice Administration.
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