Minister of Justice (New Zealand)

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The Minister of Justice (in Māori: Tāhū o te Ture) is a minister in the government of New Zealand. The minister has responsibility for the formulation of justice policy and for the administration of law courts.

The current Minister of Justice is Amy Adams. The previous Minister of Justice, Judith Collins, a member of the National Party, resigned from her ministerial positions on 30 August 2014.

History

The first Minister of Justice was appointed in 1870. This was followed in 1872 by the creation of the Department of Justice.

The Attorney-General is responsible for supervising New Zealand law and advising the Government on legal matters, and has ministerial jurisdiction over the Crown Law Office and the Parliamentary Counsel Office. The position is separate from that of 'Minister of Justice', though the two positions have sometimes been held by the same person, e.g. Martyn Finlay 1972–75.

Responsibility for the police has never technically belonged to the Minister of Justice per se. Originally, the Minister of Defence was responsible. During the early 20th century, however, it became established that the person serving as Minister of Justice was also the minister in charge of the police. This continued until the election of the First Labour Government in 1935, when responsibility for the police became detached — the Minister of Police was eventually established as a full ministerial post in 1969.

In 1995, the Department of Justice was split into three parts — a Ministry of Justice would deal with policy matters, while the practical administration of the court system and the prison system would be given their own departments. This resulted in the creation of two new ministerial portfolios — Minister of Court and Minister of Corrections. The former has since been absorbed back into the Justice portfolio, but the latter is still independent.

List of Justice Ministers

Name PM Served Took Office Left Office Party
1 Henry Sewell Fox 13 June 1870 30 October 1871 None
2 John Bathgate Waterhouse, Fox, Vogel 29 October 1872 20 February 1874 None
3 Maurice O'Rorke Vogel 20 February 1874 13 August 1874 None
4 Charles Bowen Vogel, Pollen, Vogel, Atkinson 16 December 1874 13 October 1877 None
5 John Sheehan Grey 15 October 1877 8 October 1879 None
6 William Rolleston Hall 15 December 1880 23 April 1881 None
7 Thomas Dick Hall, Whitaker 13 April 1881 11 October 1882 None
8 Edward Connolly Whitaker Atkinson 11 October 1882 16 August 1884 None
9 Joseph Tole Stout 3 September 1884 8 October 1887 None
10 Thomas Fergus Atkinson 8 October 1887 17 October 1889 None
11 William Russell Atkinson 17 October 1889 24 January 1891 None
12 William Pember Reeves, 1st time Ballance 24 January 1891 28 May 1892 Liberal
13 Alfred Cadman, 1st time Ballance, Seddon 28 May 1892 1 May 1893 Liberal
William Pember Reeves, 2nd time Seddon 20 July 1893 6 September 1893 Liberal
Alfred Cadman, 2nd time Seddon 6 September 1893 28 March 1895 Liberal
William Pember Reeves, 3rd time Seddon 28 March 1895 10 January 1896 Liberal
14 William Hall-Jones Seddon 20 February 1896 2 March 1896 Liberal
15 Thomas Thompson Seddon 2 March 1896 23 January 1900 Liberal
16 James McGowan Seddon, Hall-Jones, Ward 23 January 1900 6 January 1909 Liberal
17 John Findlay Ward 6 January 1909 26 December 1911 Liberal
18 Josiah Hanan, 1st time Mackenzie 28 March 1912 10 July 1912 Liberal
19 Alexander Herdman Massey 10 July 1912 12 August 1915 Reform
20 Robert McNab Massey 12 August 1915 3 February 1917 Liberal
Josiah Hanan, 2nd time Massey 20 February 1917 14 November 1917 Liberal
21 Thomas Wilford, 1st time Massey 14 November 1917 22 August 1919 Liberal
22 Gordon Coates Massey 4 September 1919 3 April 1920 Reform
23 Ernest Lee Massey 3 April 1920 13 January 1923 Reform
24 Francis Bell Massey 13 January 1923 27 June 1923 Reform
25 James Parr Massey, Bell, Coates 27 June 1923 18 January 1926 Reform
26 Frank Rolleston Coates 18 January 1926 26 November 1928 Reform
27 William Downie Stewart Coates 26 November 1928 10 December 1928 Reform
Thomas Wilford, 2nd time Ward 10 December 1928 10 December 1929 United
28 Thomas Sidey Ward 18 December 1929 28 May 1930 United
29 John Cobbe Forbes 28 May 1930 6 December 1935 United
30 Rex Mason, 1st time Savage, Fraser 6 December 1935 13 December 1949 Labour
31 Clifton Webb Holland 13 December 1949 26 November 1954 National
32 Jack Marshall Holland, Holyoake 26 November 1954 12 December 1957 National
Rex Mason, 2nd time Nash 12 December 1957 12 December 1960 Labour
33 Ralph Hanan Holyoake 12 December 1960 24 July 1969 National
34 Dan Riddiford Holyoake 22 December 1969 9 February 1972 National
35 Roy Jack Marshall 9 February 1972 8 December 1972 National
36 Martyn Finlay Kirk, Rowling 8 December 1972 12 December 1975 Labour
37 David Spence Thomson Muldoon 12 December 1975 13 December 1978 National
38 Jim McLay Muldoon 13 December 1978 26 July 1984 National
39 Geoffrey Palmer Lange 26 July 1984 14 August 1989 Labour
40 Bill Jeffries Palmer, Moore 13 August 1989 2 November 1990 Labour
41 Doug Graham Bolger, Shipley 2 November 1990 1 February 1999 National
42 Tony Ryall Shipley 1 February 1999 5 December 1999 National
43 Phil Goff Clark 5 December 1999 19 October 2005 Labour
44 Mark Burton Clark 19 October 2005 31 October 2007 Labour
45 Annette King Clark 31 October 2007 19 November 2008 Labour
46 Simon Power Key 19 November 2008 12 December 2011 National
47 Judith Collins Key 12 December 2011 30 August 2014 National
48 Amy Adams[1] Key 6 October 2014 Incumbent National

See also

References

  1. ↑ John Key unveils new Cabinet line-up, NZ Herald 6 October 2014
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