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:

List of office holders

	Entered office	Left office	Party

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