Cabinet Secretary for Justice
| Cabinet Secretary for Justice | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Justice Directorate | |
| Member of | Scottish Cabinet |
| Appointer | First Minister of Scotland |
| Precursor | Minister for Justice |
| Inaugural holder | Lord Wallace of Tankerness |
| Formation | 1999 |
| Deputy | Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs |
| Salary | £106,290 |
| Website | www |
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.
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.
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.
The following public bodies report to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice:
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.
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Wikipedia