The Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs (), commonly referred to as the Justice Secretary (), is a position in the

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

. The Cabinet Secretary has overall responsibility for law and order in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. The current Cabinet Secretary for Justice is

Angela Constance Angela Constance (born 15 July 1970) is a Scottish politician serving as Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs since 2023. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Alm ...

, who was appointed in March 2023. The Cabinet Secretary is assisted by the Minister for Victims and Community Safety,

Siobhian Brown Siobhian Brown (born 20 October 1972) is a politician in Scotland, serving as Minister for Victims and Community Safety since 2023 and a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Ayr since 2021. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), s ...

History

The position was created in 1999 as the Minister for Justice, with the advent of devolution and the institution of the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

, taking over some of the roles and functions of the former

Scottish Office The Scottish Office was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom from 1885 until 1999, exercising a wide range of government functions in relation to Scotland under the control of the Secretary of State for Scotland. Following the es ...

Minister of State for Home Affairs that existed prior to 1999. As with the UK

Secretary of State for Justice 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 ...

, but unlike some other

justice minister A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

s, the Cabinet Secretary does not have any oversight of prosecutions - in Scotland these are handled by the

Lord Advocate His Majesty's Advocate, known as the Lord Advocate (), is the principal legal adviser of both the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolution, devolved powers of the Scottish P ...

Overview

Responsibilities

The responsibilities of the Cabinet Secretary for Justice include: *Policing *Fire and rescue services *Courts & sentencing *The justice system and criminal law procedure *Violence reduction *Prison reform and prisoner policy *Reducing reoffending *Security *Youth justice *Access to justice *Civil law *Victim/witness support *Criminal injuries compensation *Legal aid fund *

Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) () is an independent Public bodies of the Scottish Government, public body which is responsible for the administration of the Courts of Scotland, courts and tribunals of Scotland. The Service is ...

*Bairn's Hoose *Justice reform *National Community Justice Strategy *Veterans

Public bodies

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

Disclosure Scotland Disclosure Scotland () is an executive agency of the Scottish Government, providing criminal records disclosure services for employers and voluntary sector organisations. Disclosure Scotland currently offers a range of products, starting wit ...

Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland The Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland () is an advisory non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government responsible for making recommendations on appointments to certain offices of the judiciary of Scotland. It was established ...

Judicial Complaints Reviewer The Judicial Complaints Reviewer is a Scottish official who is responsible for reviewing the handling of complaints against the judiciary of Scotland by the Judicial Office for Scotland. The post was established in 2011 as a result of the Judiciar ...

Parole Board for Scotland The Parole Board for Scotland () is a tribunal non-departmental public body in Scotland first established in 1967, with responsibility for parole decisions. Its decision making and operating are independent of the Scottish Government, and many o ...

Police Investigations and Review Commissioner The Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) is the executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government responsible for investigating complaints by members of the public against Police Scotland; and the Scottish operat ...

Risk Management Authority The Risk Management Authority is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government with responsibility for assessing and managing the risks posed by certain serious violent and sexual offenders in Scotland. It was establish ...

Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government, established by the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 (as amended by the Crime and Punishment (Scotland) Act ...

Scottish Fire and Rescue Service The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) is the national fire and rescue service of Scotland. It was formed by the merger of eight regional fire services in the country on 1 April 2013. It thus became the largest fire brigade in the Unite ...

Scottish Law Commission The Scottish Law Commission () is an advisory non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government. It was established in 1965 to keep Scots law under review and recommend necessary reforms to improve, simplify and update the country's legal ...

Scottish Legal Aid Board The Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) is an Scottish public bodies, executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government, responsible for managing legal aid. It was established in April 1987, under the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986, ...

Scottish Legal Complaints Commission The Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC) is a non-departmental public body responsible dealing with unresolved complaints against Lawyer, legal practitioners operating in Scotland. It was established under the Legal Profession and Lega ...

Scottish Police Authority The Scottish Police Authority (SPA), (), is a public body of the UK Government which holds Police Scotland, the national police service, to account. Both bodies were established on 1 April 2013, following an announcement on 8 September 2011 in ...

Scottish Prison Service The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) () is an executive agency of the Scottish Government tasked with managing prisons and Young Offender Institutions. The Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, currently Teresa Medhurst, is responsible ...

Scottish Social Services Council Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) is a non-departmental public body responsible for raising standards in the country's social work, social care, children and young people's workforce, registering people who work in social work, social car ...

Salary

The Cabinet Secretary for Justice is paid a total salary of , which is made up of for being a MSP, and an additional allowance of for the responsibility of being a Cabinet Secretary.

List of office holders

References

{{authority control Cabinet secretary posts of the Scottish Government Ministerial posts of the Scottish Government Justice ministers of Scotland Scots law formal titles