The Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Justice, commonly referred to as the Justice Secretary, is a cabinet

Cabinet (government)

A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...

 position in the Scottish Government. The position was created in 1999 as the Minister for Justice, with the advent of devolution and the institution of the Scottish Parliament

Scottish Parliament

The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...

, taking over some of the roles and functions of the former Scottish Office

Scottish Office

The Scottish Office was a department of the United Kingdom Government from 1885 until 1999, exercising a wide range of government functions in relation to Scotland under the control of the Secretary of State for Scotland...

 Minister for Home and Health that existed prior to 1999.

The Cabinet Secretary for Justice is responsible for criminal law

Criminal law

Criminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...

 and procedure

Criminal procedure

Criminal procedure refers to the legal process for adjudicating claims that someone has violated criminal law.-Basic rights:Currently, in many countries with a democratic system and the rule of law, criminal procedure puts the burden of proof on the prosecution – that is, it is up to the...

, youth justice, criminal justice

Criminal justice

Criminal Justice is the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts...

 social work

Social work

Social Work is a professional and academic discipline that seeks to improve the quality of life and wellbeing of an individual, group, or community by intervening through research, policy, community organizing, direct practice, and teaching on behalf of those afflicted with poverty or any real or...

, police

Police

The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...

, prisons

Scottish Prison Service

The Scottish Prison Service is an executive agency of the Scottish Government tasked with managing prisons in Scotland...

 and sentencing

Sentence (law)

In law, a sentence forms the final explicit act of a judge-ruled process, and also the symbolic principal act connected to his function. The sentence can generally involve a decree of imprisonment, a fine and/or other punishments against a defendant convicted of a crime...

 policy, legal aid

Legal aid

Legal aid is the provision of assistance to people otherwise unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. Legal aid is regarded as central in providing access to justice by ensuring equality before the law, the right to counsel and the right to a fair trial.A number of...

, legal profession, courts

Courts of Scotland

The civil, criminal and heraldic Courts of Scotland are responsible for the administration of justice. They are constituted and governed by Scots law....

 and law reform

Law reform

Law reform or Legal reform is the process of examining existing laws, and advocating and implementing changes in a legal system, usually with the aim of enhancing justice or efficiency....

, anti-social behaviour

Anti-social behaviour

Anti-social behaviour is behaviour that lacks consideration for others and that may cause damage to society, whether intentionally or through negligence, as opposed to pro-social behaviour, behaviour that helps or benefits society...

, sectarianism

Sectarianism

Sectarianism, according to one definition, is bigotry, discrimination or hatred arising from attaching importance to perceived differences between subdivisions within a group, such as between different denominations of a religion, class, regional or factions of a political movement.The ideological...

, human rights

Human rights

Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

, fire and rescue services

Fire services in Scotland

Fire services in Scotland are provided by Fire and Rescue Services each under the control of a Fire and Rescue Authority or a joint fire board ....

, community safety

Minister for Community Safety

The Minister for Community Safety is a Junior ministerial post in the Scottish Government. As a result, the minister does not attend the Scottish Cabinet...

, civil contingencies, drugs policy and related matters, liquor licensing, vulnerable witnesses, victim support

Victim Support

Victim Support is a charity in England and Wales which aims to help victims and witnesses of crime by raising awareness of their needs and by delivering dedicated services to them. It was established in 1974. It is a national charity with branches in every community and each criminal court in...

 and civil law, charity law, religious and faith

Faith

Faith is confidence or trust in a person or thing, or a belief that is not based on proof. In religion, faith is a belief in a transcendent reality, a religious teacher, a set of teachings or a Supreme Being. Generally speaking, it is offered as a means by which the truth of the proposition,...

 organisations.

The following executive agencies report to him:

• Accountant in Bankruptcy
• Scottish Prison Service
  Scottish Prison Service
  The Scottish Prison Service is an executive agency of the Scottish Government tasked with managing prisons in Scotland...
  
  
• Scottish Court Service
  Scottish Court Service
  The Scottish Court Service is the body which is responsible for the administration of the Court system in Scotland. The Service employs over 1000 staff members in Scotland's 49 Sheriff Courts, the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary, Justice of the Peace Courts and at the Service's HQ...
  
  

Like the UK Secretary of State for Justice, but unlike some other justice minister

Justice Minister

A justice ministry is a ministry or other government agency charged with justice. The ministry is often headed by a minister for justice or secretary of justice or secretary for justice; sometimes the head of a department of justice is entitled attorney general.Specific duties may relate to...

s, he does not have any oversight of prosecutions - in Scotland these are handled by the Lord Advocate

Lord Advocate

Her Majesty's Advocate , known as the Lord Advocate , is the chief legal officer of the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for both civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolved powers of the Scottish Parliament...

.

The current Cabinet Secretary for Justice is Kenny MacAskill

Kenny MacAskill

Kenneth "Kenny" Wright MacAskill is the Scottish Government's Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Scottish National Party Member of the Scottish Parliament for Edinburgh Eastern, formerly Edinburgh East and Musselburgh since 2007...

 who was appointed to the role after the Scottish Parliamentary Election of 2007.

List of office holders

Minister for Justice
Name	Entered office	Left office	Party
	1.	Jim Wallace Jim Wallace The Rt. Hon. James Robert Wallace, Baron Wallace of Tankerness, PC, QC , is a British politician, currently a life peer in the House of Lords and the Advocate General for Scotland...	16 May 1999	20 May 2003	Liberal Democrats Scottish Liberal Democrats The Scottish Liberal Democrats are one of the three state parties within the federal Liberal Democrats; the others being the Welsh Liberal Democrats and the Liberal Democrats in England...
	2.	Cathy Jamieson Cathy Jamieson Catherine Mary "Cathy" Jamieson is a UK Labour party politician and the Member of Parliament for Kilmarnock & Loudoun. She has previously been Deputy Leader and Acting Leader of the Scottish Labour Party, former Minister for Justice in the Scottish Executive, and Labour Co-operative Member of the...	20 May 2003	16 May 2007	Labour Party Scottish Labour Party The Scottish Labour Party is the section of the British Labour Party which operates in Scotland....
Cabinet Secretary for Justice
	3.	Kenny MacAskill Kenny MacAskill Kenneth "Kenny" Wright MacAskill is the Scottish Government's Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Scottish National Party Member of the Scottish Parliament for Edinburgh Eastern, formerly Edinburgh East and Musselburgh since 2007...	16 May 2007	Incumbent	Scottish National Party Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....

External links

• Error 404, Scottish Government website, accessed 7 July 2008