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