Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs explained

Post:
Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs
Native Name:Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic: Rùnaire a’ Chaibineit airson Ceartas agus Cùisean na Dùthcha
Member Of:Scottish Cabinet
Incumbent:Angela Constance MSP
Incumbentsince:29 March 2023
Department:Justice Directorate
Scottish Government
Scottish Cabinet
Style:Cabinet Secretary
(within parliament)
Justice Secretary
(informal)
Scottish Justice Secretary
(outwith Scotland)
Appointer:First Minister of Scotland
Formation:19 May 1999
Deputy:Minister for Victims and Community Safety
Inaugural:Jim Wallace
Minister for Justice
Salary:£118,511 per annum [1]
(including £67,662 MSP salary)
Seat:Edinburgh
Reports To:Scottish Parliament

The Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs (Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic: Rùnaire a’ Chaibineit airson Ceartas agus Cùisean na Dùthcha), commonly referred to as the Justice Secretary (Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic: Rùnaire a' Cheartais), is a position in the Scottish Government Cabinet. The Cabinet Secretary has overall responsibility for law and order in Scotland. The current Cabinet Secretary for Justice is Angela Constance, who was appointed in March 2023.

The Cabinet Secretary is assisted by the Minister for Victims and Community Safety, Siobhian Brown.[2]

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:[3]

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, which is made up of for being a MSP, and an additional allowance of for the responsibility of being a Cabinet Secretary.[4]

List of office holders

Minister for Justice

Namewidth=75PortraitEntered officeLeft officePartyFirst Minister
Jim Wallace19 May 199921 May 2003Liberal DemocratsDonald Dewar
Henry McLeish
Jack McConnell
Cathy Jamieson21 May 200317 May 2007Labour PartyJack McConnell

Cabinet Secretary for Justice

Kenny MacAskill17 May 200721 November 2014Scottish National PartyAlex Salmond
Michael Matheson21 November 201426 June 2018Nicola Sturgeon
Humza Yousaf26 June 201820 May 2021
Keith Brown20 May 202129 March 2023
Angela Constance29 March 2023IncumbentHumza Yousaf

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: MSP salaries . parliament.scot . 5 April 2023 . The Scottish Parliament.
  2. Web site: Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs - gov.scot. 2024-05-10. gov.scot.
  3. Web site: Cabinet Secretary for Justice. 25 May 2021. Scottish Government.
  4. Web site: MSP and Office Holders Salaries. parliament.scot. The Scottish Parliament. 14 June 2020. 1 April 2020.