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>Template:Cite 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 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>Template:Cite 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>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Small	28 June 2007	6 May 2010	style="background-color:Template:Party color" |		Brown
File:Kenneth-clarke-hi-res (cropped).jpg	Kenneth Clarke<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Small	12 May 2010	6 September 2012	style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	Conservative	Cameron-Clegg Template:Small
File:Chris Grayling Official.jpg	Chris Grayling<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Small	6 September 2012	8 May 2015	style="background-color:Template:Party color" |
File:Michael Gove government portrait 2015 (cropped).jpg	Michael Gove<ref>Template:Cite 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>Template:Cite 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>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite 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>Template:Cite 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>Template:Cite 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:Dominic Raab Official Cabinet Portrait, September 2021 (cropped).jpg	Dominic Raab<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Small	15 September 2021	6 September 2022			style="background-color:Template:Party color" |
File:Brandon Lewis Official Cabinet Portrait, September 2022 (cropped).jpg	Brandon Lewis Template:Small	6 September 2022	25 October 2022	style="background-color:Template:Party color" |		Truss
File:Dominic Raab Official Cabinet Portrait, October 2022 (cropped).jpg	Dominic Raab Template:Small	25 October 2022	21 April 2023	style="background-color:Template:Party color" |		Sunak
File:Alex Chalk Announced as Secretary of State for Justice (cropped).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	5 September 2025	style="background-color:Template:Party color" |	Labour	Starmer
File:David Lammy Official Cabinet Portrait, September 2025 (cropped).jpg	David Lammy Template:Small	5 September 2025	Incumbent	style="background-color:Template:Party color" |

Timeline

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 from: 08/05/2015 till: 14/07/2016 color:Conservative text:"Michael Gove"
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 from: 14/07/2016 till: 11/06/2017 color:Conservative text:"Liz Truss"
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 from: 11/06/2017 till: 08/01/2018 color:Conservative text:"David Lidington"
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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