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 in 2007, 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. The performance of the secretary of state and his department is also scrutinised by the Justice Select Committee.
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 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
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:Center"
|-
! colspan=2 | Secretary of State
! colspan=2 | Term of office
! colspan=2 | Political party
! Government
|- style="height:1em"
| 77x77px
| Charles Falconer,<BR> Baron Falconer of Thoroton
| 9 May 2007
| 28 June 2007
| style="background-color:" |
| rowspan="2" | Labour
| Blair<br>
|- style="height:1em"
| 60px
| Jack Straw<br/>
| 28 June 2007
| 6 May 2010
| style="background-color:" |
| Brown
|- style="height:1em"
| 80x80px
| Kenneth Clarke<br/>
| 12 May 2010
| 6 September 2012
| style="background-color:" |
| rowspan="12" | Conservative
| rowspan=2 | Cameron-Clegg<br>
|- style="height:1em"
| 72x72px
| Chris Grayling<br/>
| 6 September 2012
| 8 May 2015
| style="background-color:" |
|- style="height:1em"
| 80x80px
| Michael Gove<br/>
| 8 May 2015
| 14 July 2016
| style="background-color:" |
| Cameron<br>
|- style="height:1em"
| 60px
| Liz Truss<br/>
| 14 July 2016
| 11 June 2017
| style="background-color:" |
| May<br>
|- style="height:1em"
| 60px
| David Lidington<br/>
| 11 June 2017
| 8 January 2018
| style="background-color:" |
| rowspan=2 | May<br>
|- style="height:1em"
| 80x80px
| David Gauke<br/>
| 8 January 2018
| 24 July 2019
| style="background-color:" |
|-
| rowspan=2 | 60px
| rowspan=2 | Robert Buckland<br/>
| rowspan=2 | 24 July 2019
| rowspan=2 | 15 September 2021
| rowspan=2 style="background-color:" |
| | Johnson<br>
|-
| rowspan=2 | Johnson<br>
|- style="height:1em"
| 79x79px
| Dominic Raab<br/>
| 15 September 2021
| 6 September 2022
| style="background-color:" |
|- style="height:1em"
| 79x79px
| Brandon Lewis<br/>
| 6 September 2022
| 25 October 2022
| style="background-color:" |
| Truss
|- style="height:1em"
| 80x80px
| Dominic Raab<br/>
| 25 October 2022
| 21 April 2023
| style="background-color:" |
|rowspan="2"|Sunak
|- style=height:1em"
| 79x79px
| Alex Chalk<br/>
| 21 April 2023
| 5 July 2024
| style="background-color:" |
|- style=height:1em"
| 79x79px
| Shabana Mahmood<br/>
| 5 July 2024
| 5 September 2025
| style="background-color:" |
| rowspan="2" | Labour
| rowspan="2" | Starmer
|-
|77x77px
|David Lammy<br/>
|5 September 2025
|Incumbent
| style="background-color:" |
|}
Timeline
See also
- Constitutional Reform Act 2005
- Lord Chancellor
Notes
References
External links
- The Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs Order 2003 from HMSO
- The Ministry of Justice official website