Secretary of State for Justice
Royal Arms of Her Majesty's Government
Incumbent Dominic Raab since 15 September 2021
Ministry of Justice
Style	Justice Secretary (informal) The Right Honourable (UK and the Commonwealth)
Status	Secretary of state Minister of the Crown
Member of	Cabinet Privy Council
Reports to	The Prime Minister
Seat	Westminster
Appointer	The Crown on advice of the Prime Minister
Inaugural holder	The Lord Falconer
Formation	9 May 2007
Deputy	Minister of State for Justice
Website	www.justice.gov.uk

This article is part of the series: Courts of England and Wales
Law of England and Wales
Administration Ministry of Justice Secretary of State for Justice Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service Judges' Council
Civil and family courts Supreme Court of the United Kingdom Privy Council Court of Appeal Master of the Rolls Court of Appeal judge High Court of Justice President of the Queen's Bench President of the Family Division Chancellor of the High Court High Court judge County Court List of County Court venues County Court Business Centre District judge Family Court Court of Protection Court of Chivalry
Criminal courts Supreme Court of the United Kingdom Court of Appeal Lord Chief Justice Court of Appeal judge High Court of Justice President of the Queen's Bench High Court judge Crown Court List of Crown Court venues Circuit judge Recorder Magistrates' courts District judge Justice of the peace / lay magistrates
Criminal prosecution Attorney General Director of Public Prosecutions Crown Prosecution Service
Legal profession Bar Council Barrister Law Society of England and Wales Solicitor Solicitor advocate
v t e

The secretary of state for justice, also referred to as the justice secretary, 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, second in the ministerial ranking, due to the office being held concurrently with that of the deputy prime minister, immediately after the Prime Minister.^[1] Since the office's inception, the incumbent has concurrently been appointed Lord Chancellor.

The office holder 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.^[2]

The current secretary of state for justice is Dominic Raab since his appointment by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in September 2021.

Responsibilities

Corresponding to what is generally known as a justice minister in many other countries, the Justice Secretary's remit includes:

• Her Majesty's Prison Service in England and Wales
• Matters of probation
• Oversight of the Judiciaries of the United Kingdom^[3]

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. Jack Straw took over this department on 28 June 2007, following the selection of Gordon Brown as leader of the Labour Party and prime minister and left office on the resignation of Gordon Brown after the May 2010 general election. He was replaced by Conservative MP Ken Clarke.

In the Cabinet reshuffle of August 2012 Chris Grayling was promoted to Lord Chancellor, and, by convention, Secretary of State for Justice. Grayling was the first Lord Chancellor to have no legal background. After the 2015 general election, the position was given to former Government Chief Whip Michael Gove. Michael Gove was replaced after Theresa May became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 14 July 2016 and succeeded by Liz Truss. Following the 2017 general election, which resulted in a minority Conservative government, David Lidington was appointed Secretary of State for Justice, who in turn was succeeded by David Gauke on 8 January 2018 and by Robert Buckland on 24 July 2019.

List of secretaries of state

Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor

Labour       Conservative
Portrait		Name Honorifics & Constituency	Term of office		Length of term	Political Party	Government
		The Right Honourable Charlie Falconer The Lord Falconer of Thoroton PC QC[4] (born 1951)	9 May 2007	28 June 2007	1 month and 19 days	Labour		Blair III
		The Right Honourable Jack Straw[n 1][5] MP for Blackburn (born 1946)	28 June 2007	6 May 2010	2 years, 10 months and 8 days	Labour		Brown
		The Right Honourable Kenneth Clarke QC[6] MP for Rushcliffe (born 1940)	12 May 2010	6 September 2012	2 years, 3 months and 25 days	Conservative		Cameron–Clegg (Con.-L.D.)
		The Right Honourable Chris Grayling[7] MP for Epsom and Ewell (born 1962)	6 September 2012	8 May 2015	2 years, 8 months and 2 days	Conservative
		The Right Honourable Michael Gove[8] MP for Surrey Heath (born 1967)	8 May 2015	14 July 2016	1 year, 2 months and 6 days	Conservative		Cameron II
		The Right Honourable Liz Truss[9] MP for South West Norfolk (born 1975)	14 July 2016	11 June 2017	10 months and 28 days	Conservative		May I
		The Right Honourable David Lidington CBE[10][11] MP for Aylesbury (born 1956)	11 June 2017	8 January 2018	6 months and 28 days	Conservative		May II
		The Right Honourable David Gauke[12] MP for South West Hertfordshire (born 1971)	8 January 2018	24 July 2019	1 year, 6 months and 16 days	Conservative
		The Right Honourable Robert Buckland QC[13] MP for South Swindon (born 1968)	24 July 2019	15 September 2021	2 years, 1 month and 22 days	Conservative		Johnson I
								Johnson II
		The Right Honourable Dominic Raab[14] MP for Esher and Walton (born 1974)	15 September 2021	Incumbent	7 months and 7 days*	Conservative

* Incumbent's length of term last updated: 22 April 2022.