Minister for Justice (Ireland)

The Minister for Justice (Irish: An tAire Dlí agus Cirt) is the senior minister at the Department of Justice in the Government of Ireland. The Minister has overall responsibility for law and order in Ireland.[1]

Minister for Justice
Incumbent Helen McEntee since 27 June 2020
Department of Justice
Member of	Cabinet Council of the European Union Dáil Éireann
Reports to	Taoiseach
Seat	Dublin, Ireland
Appointer	President of Ireland on the nomination of the Taoiseach
Inaugural holder	Michael Collins as Minister for Home Affairs
Formation	22 January 1919
Website	Department of Justice

The current Minister for Justice is Helen McEntee, TD. She is assisted by James Browne, Minister of State with responsibility for Law Reform.[2][3]

History

From 1919 until 1924 the position was known as the Minister for Home Affairs.[4][5] In 1997, the functions of the Minister for Equality and Law Reform were transferred to this Minister, and it was renamed as the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, a title which it retained until 2010.[6] The minister held the title of Minister for Justice and Equality from 2011 to 2020.[7] As of 2020, the position is known as Minister for Justice.[8] This followed a transfer of functions to the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.

Overview

The Minister's and the Department's main areas of responsibility include: [9]

• Implementing government policy and proposing new policy on crime, immigration, asylum, criminal and civil law reform and the criminal justice system in general.
• Implementation of government policy and proposing new policy in relation to national security (an area many countries assign to a separate 'Home' or 'Homeland Security' minister)
• Control and reform of the Garda Síochána
• Pardons (which are formally given by the President on the binding "advice" of the government, after proposal by the Minister for Justice - a rarely used power)
• Implementation of core elements of the Good Friday Agreement.

List of office-holders

  Denotes acting Minister

Minister for Home Affairs 1919–1923
No.	Name	Term of office		Party		Government(s)[lower-alpha 1]
1	Michael Collins	22 January 1919	1 April 1919		Sinn Féin	1st DM
2	Arthur Griffith	2 April 1919	22 August 1921		Sinn Féin	2nd DM
3	Austin Stack[lower-alpha 2]	22 August 1921	9 January 1922		Sinn Féin	3rd DM
4	Eamonn Duggan	10 January 1922	9 September 1922		Sinn Féin (Pro-Treaty)	4th DM · 1st PG
5	Kevin O'Higgins	30 August 1922	2 June 1924		Cumann na nGaedheal	2nd PG · 5th DM · 1st EC · 2nd EC
Minister for Justice 1924–1997
No.	Name	Term of office		Party		Government(s)
	Kevin O'Higgins	2 June 1924	10 July 1927		Cumann na nGaedheal	2nd EC · 3rd EC
6	W. T. Cosgrave[lower-alpha 3]	10 July 1927	12 October 1927		Cumann na nGaedheal	3rd EC
7	James FitzGerald-Kenney	12 October 1927	9 March 1932		Cumann na nGaedheal	4th EC · 5th EC
8	James Geoghegan	9 March 1932	8 February 1933		Fianna Fáil	6th EC
9	P. J. Ruttledge	8 February 1933	8 September 1939		Fianna Fáil	7th EC · 8th EC · 1st · 2nd
10	Gerald Boland (1st time)	8 September 1939	18 February 1948		Fianna Fáil	2nd · 3rd · 4th
11	Seán Mac Eoin	18 February 1948	7 March 1951		Fine Gael	5th
12	Daniel Morrissey	7 March 1951	13 June 1951		Fine Gael	5th
	Gerald Boland (2nd time)	13 June 1951	2 June 1954		Fianna Fáil	6th
13	James Everett	2 June 1954	20 March 1957		Labour	7th
14	Oscar Traynor	20 March 1957	11 October 1961		Fianna Fáil	8th · 9th
15	Charles Haughey	11 October 1961	8 October 1964		Fianna Fáil	10th
16	Seán Lemass (acting)	8 October 1964	3 November 1964		Fianna Fáil	10th
17	Brian Lenihan Snr	3 November 1964	26 March 1968		Fianna Fáil	10th · 11th · 12th
18	Mícheál Ó Móráin	27 March 1968	5 May 1970		Fianna Fáil	12th · 13th
19	Desmond O'Malley	5 May 1970	14 March 1973		Fianna Fáil	13th
20	Patrick Cooney	14 March 1973	5 July 1977		Fine Gael	14th
21	Gerry Collins (1st time)	5 July 1977	30 June 1981		Fianna Fáil	15th · 16th
22	Jim Mitchell	30 June 1981	9 March 1982		Fine Gael	17th
23	Seán Doherty	9 March 1982	14 December 1982		Fianna Fáil	18th
24	Michael Noonan	14 December 1982	14 February 1986		Fine Gael	19th
25	Alan Dukes	14 February 1986	10 March 1987		Fine Gael	19th
	Gerry Collins (2nd time)	10 March 1987	12 July 1989		Fianna Fáil	20th
26	Ray Burke[lower-alpha 4]	12 July 1989	11 February 1992		Fianna Fáil	21st
27	Pádraig Flynn	11 February 1992	4 January 1993		Fianna Fáil	22nd
28	Máire Geoghegan-Quinn	4 January 1993	15 December 1994		Fianna Fáil	23rd
29	Nora Owen	15 December 1994	26 June 1997		Fine Gael	24th
30	John O'Donoghue	26 June 1997	8 July 1997		Fianna Fáil	25th
Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform 1997–2010
No.	Name	Term of office		Party		Government(s)
	John O'Donoghue	8 July 1997	6 June 2002		Fianna Fáil	25th
31	Michael McDowell	6 June 2002	14 June 2007		Progressive Democrats	26th
32	Brian Lenihan Jnr	14 June 2007	7 May 2008		Fianna Fáil	27th
33	Dermot Ahern	7 May 2008	23 March 2010		Fianna Fáil	28th
Minister for Justice and Law Reform 2010–2011
No.	Name	Term of office		Party		Government(s)
	Dermot Ahern	23 March 2010	19 January 2011		Fianna Fáil	28th
34	Brendan Smith[lower-alpha 5]	20 January 2011	9 March 2011		Fianna Fáil	28th
35	Alan Shatter[lower-alpha 6]	9 March 2011	2 April 2011		Fine Gael	29th
Minister for Justice and Equality 2011–2020
No.	Name	Term of office		Party		Government(s)
	Alan Shatter[lower-alpha 6]	2 April 2011	7 May 2014		Fine Gael	29th
36	Frances Fitzgerald	8 May 2014	14 June 2017		Fine Gael	29th · 30th
37	Charles Flanagan	14 June 2017	27 June 2020		Fine Gael	31st
38	Helen McEntee	27 June 2020	1 November 2020		Fine Gael	32nd
Minister for Justice 2020–present
No.	Name	Term of office		Party		Government(s)
	Helen McEntee	1 November 2020	Incumbent		Fine Gael	32nd

Notes

1. Before 1937: DM – Dáil Ministry; PG – Provisional Government; EC – Executive Council.
2. Austin Stack held the title of Secretary of State for Home Affairs.
3. Also President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State.
4. Also Minister for Communications from 31 March 1987 to 6 February 1991.
5. Also Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
6. Also Minister for Defence.

See also

• Criminal Assets Bureau

References

1. "Minister for Justice - gov.ie". Government of Ireland. 19 November 2020.
2. "List of Ministers and Ministers of State", Government of Ireland, retrieved 24 July 2020
3. "About Us". Department of Justice. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
4. "An early history of the Department". Department of Justice. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
5. "Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924, Schedule, Tenth Part: Ministers named in former Acts". Irish Statute Book. 21 April 1924. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
6. "Justice (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 1997". Irish Statute Book. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
7. "Justice and Law Reform (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2011". Irish Statute Book. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
8. "Justice and Equality (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2020". Irish Statute Book. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
9. "Our Responsibilities - The Department of Justice". Department of Justice.

External links

• Department of Justice