Harman Patil (Editor)

Minister for Justice and Equality

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Formation
  
22 January 1919

Website
  
www.justice.ie

Minister for Justice and Equality

Appointer
  
President of Ireland on the nomination of the Taoiseach

Inaugural holder
  
Michael Collins as Minister for Home Affairs

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

Contents

The current Minister for Justice and Equality is Frances Fitzgerald, TD. She is assisted by:

  • Finian McGrath, TD – Minister of State for Disability Issues
  • TBA, TD – Minister of State for New Communities, Culture and Equality

    • History

    From 1919 until 1923 the holder of the justice portfolio was known as the Minister for Home Affairs. In 1997, the portfolio of the then-Minister for Justice was amalgamated with that of the Minister for Equality and Law Reform to create a Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, a position which was retained until 2010.

    Overview

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

  • 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.

    • References

    Minister for Justice and Equality Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA