Secretary of State for Justice

United Kingdom
Secretary of State for Justice
United Kingdom; Secretary of State for Justice
	Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government
	Incumbent; Shabana Mahmood; since 5 July 2024
	Ministry of Justice
Style	Justice Secretary; (informal); The Right Honourable; (within the UK and Commonwealth)
Type	Minister of the Crown
Status	Secretary of State
Member of	Cabinet; Privy Council;
Reports to	The Prime Minister
Seat	Westminster
Nominator	The Prime Minister
Appointer	The Monarch; (on the advice of the Prime Minister)
Term length	At His Majesty's Pleasure
Precursor	Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs
Formation	9 May 2007
First holder	The Lord Falconer
Salary	£159,038 per annum (2022); (including £86,584 MP salary)
Website	Official Website

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.^[3]

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:

Freedom of information and information privacy;
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 the 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

	Term of office			Government
Charles Falconer, Baron Falconer of Thoroton^[4]	9 May 2007	28 June 2007	Labour	Blair (III)
Jack Straw^{[n 1]}^[5] MP for Blackburn	28 June 2007	6 May 2010	Labour	Brown
Kenneth Clarke^[6] MP for Rushcliffe	12 May 2010	6 September 2012	Conservative	Cameron-Clegg (Coalition)
Chris Grayling^[7] MP for Epsom and Ewell	6 September 2012	8 May 2015		Cameron-Clegg (Coalition)
Michael Gove^[8] MP for Surrey Heath	8 May 2015	14 July 2016		Cameron (II)
Liz Truss^[9] MP for South West Norfolk	14 July 2016	11 June 2017		May (I)
David Lidington^[10]^[11] MP for Aylesbury	11 June 2017	8 January 2018		May (II)
David Gauke^[12] MP for South West Hertfordshire	8 January 2018	24 July 2019		May (II)
Robert Buckland^[13] MP for South Swindon	24 July 2019	15 September 2021		Johnson (I)
Robert Buckland^[13] MP for South Swindon	24 July 2019	15 September 2021		Johnson (II)
Dominic Raab^[14] MP for Esher and Walton	15 September 2021	6 September 2022		Johnson (II)
Brandon Lewis MP for Great Yarmouth	6 September 2022	25 October 2022		Truss
Dominic Raab MP for Esher and Walton	25 October 2022	21 April 2023		Sunak
Alex Chalk MP for Cheltenham	21 April 2023	5 July 2024		Sunak
Shabana Mahmood MP for Birmingham Ladywood	5 July 2024	Incumbent	Labour	Starmer

Timeline

Notes

^ First non-peer to serve as Lord Chancellor since Sir Robert Henley as Lord Keeper of the Seal in 1760.

References

^ "Salaries of Members of His Majesty's Government – Financial Year 2022–23" (PDF). 15 December 2022.
^ "Pay and expenses for MPs". parliament.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
^ "Michael Gove questioned on work of Secretary of State". parliament.uk. 9 July 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2021. The Justice Committee holds a one-off session with Michael Gove MP, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, on the work of the Secretary of State for Justice.
^ "Lord Falconer of Thoroton". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
^ "Rt Hon Jack Straw". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
^ "Lord Clarke of Nottingham". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
^ "Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
^ "Rt Hon Michael Gove MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
^ "Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
^ "Rt Hon Sir David Lidington". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
^ "The Rt Hon David Lidington CBE". GOV.UK.
^ "Rt Hon David Gauke". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
^ "Rt Hon Robert Buckland MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
^ "Rt Hon Dominic Raab MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 25 September 2021.

External links

[5] First non-peer to serve as Lord Chancellor since Sir Robert Henley as Lord Keeper of the Seal in 1760.

[1] "Salaries of Members of His Majesty's Government – Financial Year 2022–23" (PDF). 15 December 2022.

[2] "Pay and expenses for MPs". parliament.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2022.

[3] "Michael Gove questioned on work of Secretary of State". parliament.uk. 9 July 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2021. The Justice Committee holds a one-off session with Michael Gove MP, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, on the work of the Secretary of State for Justice.

[4] "Lord Falconer of Thoroton". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 August 2021.

[6] "Rt Hon Jack Straw". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 August 2021.

[7] "Lord Clarke of Nottingham". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 August 2021.

[8] "Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 August 2021.

[9] "Rt Hon Michael Gove MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 August 2021.

[10] "Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 August 2021.

[11] "Rt Hon Sir David Lidington". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 August 2021.

[12] "The Rt Hon David Lidington CBE". GOV.UK.

[13] "Rt Hon David Gauke". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 August 2021.

[14] "Rt Hon Robert Buckland MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 August 2021.

[15] "Rt Hon Dominic Raab MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 25 September 2021.

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v t e Secretaries of state for justice of the United Kingdom
Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs 2003–2007	Falconer
Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain Secretary of State for Justice 2007–present	Falconer Straw Clarke Grayling Gove Truss Lidington Gauke Buckland Raab Lewis Raab Chalk Mahmood

v t e Ministry of Justice
Headquarters: 102 Petty France, Westminster
Ministers	Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor Minister of State for Courts and Legal Services Minister of State for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Sentencing Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Victims
Executive agencies	Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority HM Courts and Tribunals Service HM Prison Service Legal Aid Agency Office of the Public Guardian Probation Service
Non-departmental public bodies	Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service Civil Justice Council Criminal Cases Review Commission Independent monitoring board Judicial Appointments Commission Law Commission Legal Services Board Parole Board for England and Wales Prisons and Probation Ombudsman Sentencing Council Youth Justice Board
Other organisations	Crown Office
Significant former agencies	Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council HM Courts Service Legal Services Commission Tribunals Service Sentencing Guidelines Council

v t e UK cabinet portfolios
Cabinet of the United Kingdom
Cabinet ministers	Prime Minister / First Lord of the Treasury / Minister for the Union / Minister for the Civil Service Deputy Prime Minister / Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary Chancellor of the Exchequer Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Secretary Home Secretary Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Defence Secretary Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Justice Secretary / Lord Chancellor Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary Health and Social Care Secretary Lord President of the Council / Leader of the House of Commons Leader of the House of Lords / Lord Privy Seal Business and Trade Secretary / President of the Board of Trade Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary Work and Pensions Secretary Education Secretary / Minister for Women and Equalities Transport Secretary Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Northern Ireland Secretary Scottish Secretary Welsh Secretary
Also attending Cabinet	Chief Whip / Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury Chief Secretary to the Treasury Attorney General for England and Wales / Advocate General for Northern Ireland Minister of State for International Development