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Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs

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Cabinet Secretary for Justice
Incumbent
Michael Matheson MSP
since 21 November 2014
Justice Directorate
Member ofScottish Cabinet
AppointerFirst Minister of Scotland
PrecursorMinister for Justice
Inaugural holderLord Wallace of Tankerness
Formation1999
DeputyMinister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs
Salary£106,290
Websitewww.gov.scot
Part of a series on
Scots law
Administration
Civil courts
Criminal courts
Special courts
Criminal prosecution
Legal profession

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, Criminal Law procedure, Civil law, Police, Fire and Rescue services, Legal profession, Violence reduction, Anti-sectarianism, Courts, Sentencing, Security, Human rights, Access to justice, Community safety, Anti-social behaviour, Prisons and prisoners, Female offenders, Criminal justice social work, Victims and witnesses, Reducing reoffending, Youth justice, Liquor licensing.

Public bodies

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

Salary

The Cabinet Secretary for Justice is paid a total salary of £106,290, which is made up of £60,685 for being a MSP, and an additional allowance of £45,605 for the responsibility of being a Cabinet Secretary.[1]

List of office holders

Minister for Justice

Name Portrait Entered office Left office Party First Minister
Template:Scottish politics/party colours/Scottish Liberal Democrats| Jim Wallace 16 May 1999 20 May 2003 Liberal Democrats Template:Scottish politics/party colours/Scottish Labour Party| Donald Dewar
Henry McLeish
Jack McConnell
Template:Scottish politics/party colours/Scottish Labour Party| Cathy Jamieson 20 May 2003 16 May 2007 Labour Party Template:Scottish politics/party colours/Scottish Labour Party| Jack McConnell

Cabinet Secretary for Justice

Template:Scottish politics/party colours/Scottish National Party| Kenny MacAskill 16 May 2007 20 November 2014 Scottish National Party Template:Scottish politics/party colours/Scottish National Party| Alex Salmond
Template:Scottish politics/party colours/Scottish National Party| Michael Matheson 21 November 2014 Incumbent Scottish National Party Template:Scottish politics/party colours/Scottish National Party| Nicola Sturgeon

See also

References

  1. ^ "MSP and Office Holders Salaries" (PDF). www.parliament.scot. The Scottish Parliament. 1 April 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
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