Cabinet Secretary for Justice

Scotland
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The Cabinet Secretary for Justice, commonly referred to as the Justice Secretary, is a position in the Scottish Government Cabinet. The Cabinet Secretary has overall responsibility for law and order in Scotland. The Cabinet Secretary is assisted by the Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs.

The current Cabinet Secretary for Justice is Michael Matheson, who was appointed in November 2014.

History

The position was created in 1999 as the Minister for Justice, with the advent of devolution and the institution of the Scottish Parliament, taking over some of the roles and functions of the former Scottish Office Minister of State for Home Affairs that existed prior to 1999.

As with the UK Secretary of State for Justice, but unlike some other justice ministers, the Cabinet Secretary does not have any oversight of prosecutions - in Scotland these are handled by the Lord Advocate.

Overview

Responsibilities

The responsibilities of the Cabinet Secretary for Justice include:

• the Justice system
• security
• access to justice
• criminal law and procedure
• civil law
• the police
• the legal profession
• courts
• sentencing
• prisons and prisoners
• victims and witnesses
• reducing reoffending
• youth justice
• criminal justice social work
• community safety
• fire and rescue services
• anti-social behaviour
• drugs policy
• violence reduction
• anti-sectarianism
• liquor licensing

Public bodies

The following public bodies report to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice:

• Accountant in Bankruptcy
• Disclosure Scotland
• Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland
• Parole Board for Scotland
• Police Investigations and Review Commissioner
• Risk Management Authority
• Scottish Court Service
• Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission
• Scottish Law Commission
• Scottish Legal Aid Board
• Scottish Legal Complaints Commission
• Scottish Prison Service

List of office holders

Name		Portrait	Entered office	Left office	Party	First Minister
	Jim Wallace		16 May 1999	20 May 2003	Liberal Democrats		Donald Dewar Henry McLeish Jack McConnell
	Cathy Jamieson		20 May 2003	16 May 2007	Labour Party		Jack McConnell
	Kenny MacAskill		16 May 2007	20 November 2014	Scottish National Party		Alex Salmond
	Michael Matheson		21 November 2014	Incumbent	Scottish National Party		Nicola Sturgeon

See also

• Politics of Scotland
• Scottish Government
• Scottish Parliament