Secretary of State for Justice

Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox official post Template:CourtsEnglandWales 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	9 May 2007	28 June 2007	style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	Labour	Blair Template:Small
File:Jack Straw 2.jpg	Jack Straw<ref group="n">First non-peer to serve as Lord Chancellor since Sir Robert Henley as Lord Keeper of the Seal in 1760.</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:Small	28 June 2007	6 May 2010	style="background-color:Template:Party color" |		Brown
File:Kenneth-clarke-hi-res.jpg	Kenneth Clarke<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:Small	12 May 2010	6 September 2012	style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	Conservative	Cameron-Clegg Template:Small
File:Official portrait of Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP crop 2.jpg	Chris Grayling<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:Small	6 September 2012	8 May 2015	style="background-color:Template:Party color" |
File:Official portrait of Michael Gove crop 2.jpg	Michael Gove<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:Small	8 May 2015	14 July 2016	style="background-color:Template:Party color" |		Cameron Template:Small
File:Official portrait of Elizabeth Truss crop 2.jpg	Liz Truss<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:Small	14 July 2016	11 June 2017	style="background-color:Template:Party color" |		May Template:Small
File:Official portrait of Mr David Lidington crop 2.jpg	David Lidington<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:Small	11 June 2017	8 January 2018		style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	May Template:Small
File:Official portrait of Mr David Gauke crop 2.jpg	David Gauke<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:Small	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<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:Small	24 July 2019	15 September 2021	rowspan=2 style="background-color:Template:Party color" |		Johnson Template:Small
		Johnson Template:Small
File:Official portrait of Rt Hon Dominic Raab MP crop 2.jpg	Dominic Raab<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation		CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:Small	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 Template:Small	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 Template:Small	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 Template:Small	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 Template:Small	5 July 2024	Incumbent	style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	Labour	Starmer

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 = {{#time:d/m/Y}}

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/2007 till:31/12/{{#time:Y|+ 1 year}} 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

• Constitutional Reform Act 2005
• Lord Chancellor

External links

• The Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs Order 2003 from HMSO
• The Ministry of Justice official website