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Scotland Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs
Scottish Gaelic: Rùnaire a’ Chaibineit airson Ceartas agus Cùisean na Dùthcha
Incumbent Angela Constance MSP since 29 March 2023
Justice Directorate Scottish Government Scottish Cabinet
Style	Cabinet Secretary (within parliament) Justice Secretary (informal) Scottish Justice Secretary (outwith Scotland)
Member of	Scottish Cabinet
Reports to	Scottish Parliament
Seat	Edinburgh
Appointer	First Minister of Scotland
Inaugural holder	Jim Wallace Minister for Justice
Formation	19 May 1999
Deputy	Minister for Victims and Community Safety
Salary	£118,511 per annum (2023) (including £67,662 MSP salary)
Website	www.gov.scot

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The Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs (Scottish Gaelic: Rùnaire a’ Chaibineit airson Ceartas agus Cùisean na Dùthcha), commonly referred to as the Justice Secretary (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.

History

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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:

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

Public bodies

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

• Disclosure Scotland
• Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland
• Judicial Complaints Reviewer
• Parole Board for Scotland
• Police Investigations and Review Commissioner
• Risk Management Authority
• Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service
• Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission
• Scottish Fire and Rescue Service
• Scottish Law Commission
• Scottish Legal Aid Board
• Scottish Legal Complaints Commission
• Scottish Police Authority
• Scottish Prison Service
• Scottish Social Services Council

Salary

The Cabinet Secretary for Justice is paid a total salary of £112,919, which is made up of £64,470 for being a MSP, and an additional allowance of £48,449 for the responsibility of being a Cabinet Secretary.

List of office holders

Minister for Justice
Name		Portrait	Entered office	Left office	Party	First Minister
	Jim Wallace		19 May 1999	21 May 2003	Liberal Democrats		Donald Dewar Henry McLeish Jack McConnell
	Cathy Jamieson		21 May 2003	17 May 2007	Labour Party		Jack McConnell
Cabinet Secretary for Justice
	Kenny MacAskill		17 May 2007	21 November 2014	Scottish National Party		Alex Salmond
	Michael Matheson		21 November 2014	26 June 2018			Nicola Sturgeon
	Humza Yousaf		26 June 2018	20 May 2021
	Keith Brown		20 May 2021	29 March 2023
	Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs
	Angela Constance		29 March 2023	Incumbent	Scottish National Party		Humza Yousaf John Swinney

See also

• Politics of Scotland
• Scottish Government
• Scottish Parliament

References

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

v t e Criminal justice system of Scotland
Administration	Scottish Government Justice Directorate Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs Minister for Victims and Community Safety
Investigation	Police Scotland Scottish Police Authority Police Investigations and Review Commissioner HM Inspectorate of Constabulary Specialist reporting agency National Crime Agency
Prosecution	Crown Office Lord Advocate Solicitor General for Scotland Advocate Depute Procurator Fiscal Precognition Criminal law
Criminal courts	Courts of Scotland Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service Scottish Sentencing Council High Court of Justiciary Lord Justice General Lord Justice Clerk Lords Commissioners of Justiciary Act of Adjournal Lord Advocate's Reference Sheriff Court Sheriff Appeal Court Justice of the Peace Courts
Punishment	Scottish Prison Service HM Inspectorate of Prisons Order for Lifelong Restriction Parole Board for Scotland Risk Management Authority Fiscal fine Admonition

• Cabinet Secretary posts of the Scottish Government
• Ministerial posts of the Scottish Government
• Justice ministers of Scotland
• Scots law formal titles