Secretary of State for Justice
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "about". Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox official post Template:Sidebar with collapsible lists The secretary of state for justice is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Ministry of Justice. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. Since the office's inception, the incumbent has concurrently been appointed Lord Chancellor.
The officeholder works alongside the other justice ministers. The corresponding shadow minister is the shadow secretary of state for justice, and the performance of the secretary of state is also scrutinised by the Justice Select Committee.[1]
Responsibilities
Corresponding to what is generally known as a justice minister in many other countries, the justice secretary's remit encompasses justice policy for the whole United Kingdom along with matters of justice specific to England and Wales.
The justice secretary is responsible throughout the UK for:
- Human rights and civil liberties;
- Miscarriages of justice (via the Criminal Cases Review Commission); and
- The UK’s relations with the governments of the three Crown Dependencies - Guernsey, Jersey, and the Isle of Man.
In relation to England and Wales, the justice secretary's portfolio concerns the following matters:
- The delivery of criminal justice generally, including criminal law, criminal procedure, sentencing, probation and parole, criminal injury compensation, and victim's rights;
- All matters falling under civil justice, including but not limited to civil procedure, administrative law, bankruptcy and insolvency law, commercial law, contract law, family law, probate, and tort; and
- Administration of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service, His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service, the Parole Board, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, the Victims' Commissioner, and the Youth Justice Board.
Creation
The then Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer of Thoroton, was appointed to the post of Secretary of State for Justice when it was created in 2007. The office of the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs was abolished, along with the Department for Constitutional Affairs. The Home Secretary, John Reid, told Parliament that future secretaries of state for justice would be MPs rather than peers.
List of secretaries of state
| Secretary of State | Term of office | Political party | Government | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:Portrait of Lord Falconer.jpg | Charles Falconer, Baron Falconer of Thoroton[2] |
9 May 2007 | 28 June 2007 | style="background-color:Template:Party color" | | Labour | Blair (III)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
| File:Jack Straw 2.jpg | Jack Straw[n 1][3] MP for BlackburnScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
28 June 2007 | 6 May 2010 | style="background-color:Template:Party color" | | Brown | |
| File:Kenneth-clarke-hi-res.jpg | Kenneth Clarke[4] MP for RushcliffeScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
12 May 2010 | 6 September 2012 | style="background-color:Template:Party color" | | Conservative | Cameron-Clegg (Coalition)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
| File:Official portrait of Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP crop 2.jpg | Chris Grayling[5] MP for Epsom and EwellScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
6 September 2012 | 8 May 2015 | style="background-color:Template:Party color" | | ||
| File:Official portrait of Michael Gove crop 2.jpg | Michael Gove[6] MP for Surrey HeathScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
8 May 2015 | 14 July 2016 | style="background-color:Template:Party color" | | Cameron (II)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | |
| File:Official portrait of Elizabeth Truss crop 2.jpg | Liz Truss[7] MP for South West NorfolkScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
14 July 2016 | 11 June 2017 | style="background-color:Template:Party color" | | May (I)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | |
| File:Official portrait of Mr David Lidington crop 2.jpg | David Lidington[8][9] MP for AylesburyScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
11 June 2017 | 8 January 2018 | style="background-color:Template:Party color" | | May (II)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | |
| File:Official portrait of Mr David Gauke crop 2.jpg | David Gauke[10] MP for South West HertfordshireScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
8 January 2018 | 24 July 2019 | style="background-color:Template:Party color" | | ||
| File:Official portrait of Rt Hon Robert Buckland MP crop 2.jpg | Robert Buckland[11] MP for South SwindonScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
24 July 2019 | 15 September 2021 | rowspan=2 style="background-color:Template:Party color" | | Johnson (I)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | |
| Johnson (II)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". | ||||||
| File:Official portrait of Rt Hon Dominic Raab MP crop 2.jpg | Dominic Raab[12] MP for Esher and WaltonScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
15 September 2021 | 6 September 2022 | style="background-color:Template:Party color" | | ||
| File:Official portrait of Rt Hon Brandon Lewis MP crop 2.jpg | Brandon Lewis MP for Great YarmouthScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
6 September 2022 | 25 October 2022 | style="background-color:Template:Party color" | | Truss | |
| File:Official portrait of Rt Hon Dominic Raab MP crop 2.jpg | Dominic Raab MP for Esher and WaltonScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
25 October 2022 | 21 April 2023 | style="background-color:Template:Party color" | | Sunak | |
| File:Official portrait of Alex Chalk MP crop 2.jpg | Alex Chalk MP for CheltenhamScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
21 April 2023 | 5 July 2024 | style="background-color:Template:Party color" | | ||
| File:Shabana Mahmood Official Cabinet Portrait, July 2024 (cropped) 2.jpg | Shabana Mahmood MP for Birmingham LadywoodScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
5 July 2024 | Incumbent | style="background-color:Template:Party color" | | Labour | Starmer |
_2.jpg){kind=link}
Timeline
<timeline>ImageSize=width:1100 height:auto barincrement:14 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal AlignBars = late PlotArea = width:90% left:20 top:10 bottom:70 Legend = columns:1 left:120 top:35 columnwidth:160
Define $now = 15/12/2025
DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/2007 till:31/12/2026 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
Colors =
id:conservative value:rgb(0,0.53,0.86) legend: Conservative_and_Unionist_Party id:labour value:rgb(0.86,0.08,0.18) legend: Labour_Party id:independent value:rgb(0.6,0.6,0.6) legend: Independent_or_no_party id:liteline value:rgb(0.9,0.9,0.9) id:line value:rgb(0.8,0.8,0.8)
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:2 start:2007 ScaleMinor = unit:month increment:3 start:2007
TextData =
pos:(20,40) textcolor:black fontsize:M text:"Political parties:"
BarData =
bar:Falconer bar:Straw bar:Clarke bar:Grayling bar:Gove bar:Truss bar:Lidington bar:Gauke bar:Buckland bar:Raab bar:Lewis bar:Chalk bar:Mahmood
PlotData=
width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till bar:Falconer from: 09/05/2007 till: 28/06/2007 color:Labour text:"Charles Falconer" bar:Straw from: 28/06/2007 till: 06/05/2010 color:Labour text:"Jack Straw" bar:Clarke from: 06/05/2010 till: 06/09/2012 color:Conservative text:"Kenneth Clarke" bar:Grayling from: 06/09/2012 till: 08/05/2015 color:Conservative text:"Chris Grayling" bar:Gove from: 08/05/2015 till: 14/07/2016 color:Conservative text:"Michael Gove" bar:Truss from: 14/07/2016 till: 11/06/2017 color:Conservative text:"Liz Truss" bar:Lidington from: 11/06/2017 till: 08/01/2018 color:Conservative text:"David Lidington" bar:Gauke from: 08/01/2018 till: 24/07/2019 color:Conservative text:"David Gauke" bar:Buckland from: 24/07/2019 till: 15/09/2021 color:Conservative text:"Robert Buckland" bar:Raab from: 15/09/2021 till: 06/09/2022 color:Conservative from: 25/10/2022 till: 21/04/2023 color:Conservative text:"Dominic Raab" bar:Lewis from: 06/09/2022 till: 25/10/2022 color:Conservative text:"Brandon Lewis" bar:Chalk from: 21/04/2023 till: 05/07/2024 color:Conservative text:"Alex Chalk" bar:Mahmood from: 05/07/2024 till: $now color:Labour text:"Shabana Mahmood"
</timeline>
See also
Notes
References
External links
- The Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs Order 2003 from HMSO
- The Ministry of Justice official website
Template:Secretaries of state for justice Template:Ministry of Justice (United Kingdom) Template:Cabinet positions in the United Kingdom
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
Cite error: <ref> tags exist for a group named "n", but no corresponding <references group="n"/> tag was found