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Department of Justice (Ireland)

{{Short description|Irish government department}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}

{{Use Hiberno-English|date=December 2021}}

{{Infobox government agency

| agency_name = Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration

| type = Department

| logo = File:Irish Department of Justice and Equality logo.png

| logo_width =

| logo_caption =

| image = File:51 St Stephen's Green Dublin.jpg

| image_caption = Headquarters on St Stephen's Green, Dublin

| seal =

| seal_width = 80px

| seal_caption =

| formed = 22 January 1919

| preceding2 =

| dissolved =

| superseding =

| jurisdiction = Government of Ireland

| headquarters = 51 St Stephen's Green, Dublin

| coordinates = {{coord|53|20|14|N|6|15|41|W|type:landmark|display=inline}}

| employees =

| budget = €3.27 billion (2023-2024){{cite web |url=https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/e6261-mcentee-secures-justice-budget-2024-to-build-stronger-safer-communities/ |title=Minister McEntee secures Justice Budget 2024 to build stronger, safer communities |last=McEntee |first=Helen |date=10 October 2023 |publisher=Government of Ireland |access-date=24 February 2024 |quote=The Minister for Justice Helen McEntee today welcomed the significant increase in Budget allocation of over €3.27 billion in current expenditure plus €274 million for capital projects for the Justice sector in 2024, with a particular focus on building stronger, safer communities.}}

| minister1_name = Jim O'Callaghan

| minister1_pfo =
Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration

| chief1_name = Oonagh McPhillips

| chief1_position =
Secretary General

| child1_agency = Irish Prison Service

| child2_agency = Criminal Assets Bureau

| child3_agency = Courts Service

| child4_agency = Garda Síochána

| website = {{official website}}

| footnotes =

}}

{{Politics of the Republic of Ireland|Politics of Ireland}}

The Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration ({{langx|ga|An Roinn Dlí agus Cirt, Gnóthaí Baile agus Imirce}}) is a department of the Government of Ireland. It is led by the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration. The department's mission is to maintain and enhance community security and to promote a fairer society in Ireland.

Departmental team

  • Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: Jim O'Callaghan, TD
  • Minister of State for International law, law reform and youth justice: Niall Collins, TD
  • Minister of State for Migration: Colm Brophy, TD
  • Secretary General of the Department: Oonagh McPhillips{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-justice/roles/secretary-general-of-the-department-of-justice/|title= Secretary General of the Department of Justice|website=Government of Ireland|publisher=Department of Justice|date=21 July 2023|orig-date=19 November 2019}}

Overview

The mission of the Department of Justice is to maintain and enhance community security through the development of a range of policies and high-quality services which underpin:

  • The protection and assertion of human rights and fundamental freedoms consistent with the common good
  • The security of the State
  • An effective and balanced approach to tackling crime

In July 2014 the department embarked on a comprehensive programme of change, including the recruitment of a new secretary-general following an independent review.{{cite web|title=Reform and Transformation|url=http://justice.ie/en/JELR/Pages/Corporate_Affairs_Reform|access-date=13 September 2019|website=Department of Justice}}

The official headquarters and ministerial offices of the department are on St Stephen's Green, Dublin.

Responsibilities

The department's main areas of responsibility include:

  • Implementing government policy on crime and protecting the security of the State (National Security Committee).
  • Providing policy advice in relation to the criminal justice system (Garda Síochána, the Courts, Prisons and Probation and Welfare services) and supporting the operation of this system.
  • Continuing reform of criminal law and certain areas of civil law.
  • Playing a central part in the implementation of core elements in the Good Friday Agreement.
  • Co-operating in relevant EU and international matters and promoting the Republic of Ireland's interests within the associated areas of responsibility.
  • Implementing the Government's asylum strategy and further developing national immigration policy.

Executive agencies

The department has executive agencies, which legally are integral parts of the department but which are managed separately:

Affiliated bodies

Among the state agencies and other bodies affiliated to the department in some way are:

No state-sponsored bodies report to the department.

History

In the revolutionary period, the office was known as the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924, passed soon after the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922, provided it with a statutory basis and renamed it as the Department of Justice. This act provided it with:{{Cite Irish legislation|year=1924|number=16|section=1|name=Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924|stitle=Establishment of the Departments of State|date=21 April 1924|access-date=5 October 2019|website=Irish Statute Book}}

{{blockquote|the administration and business generally of public services in connection with law, justice, public order and police, and all powers, duties and functions connected with the same (except such powers, duties and functions as are by law reserved to the Executive Council and such powers, duties and functions as are by the Constitution or by law excepted from the authority of the Executive Council or of an Executive Minister), and shall include in particular the business, powers, duties and functions of the branches and officers of the public service specified in the second part of the schedule to this Act, and of which Department the head shall be, and shall be styled, an t-Aire Dlí agus Cirt or (in English) the Minister for Justice.}}

The schedule assigned it with the following bodies:{{Cite Irish legislation|year=1924|number=16|schedule=y|name=Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924|date=21 April 1924|access-date=5 October 2019|website=Irish Statute Book}}

  • All Courts of Justice and the Offices thereof save in so far as the same are reserved to the Executive Council or are excepted from the authority of the Executive Council or of an Executive Minister.
  • Police.
  • The General Prisons Board for Ireland and all Prisons.
  • The Registrar of District Court Clerks.
  • The Public Record Office.
  • The Registry of Deeds.
  • The Land Registry.
  • The Commissioners of Charitable Donations and Bequests for Ireland.

=Alteration of name and transfer of functions=

The name and functions of the department have changed by means of statutory instruments.

class="wikitable"
Date

! Effect

2 June 1924

|Establishment of the Department of Justice{{Cite web|url=http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1924/sro/804/made/en/print|title=Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924 (Commencement) Order 1924|date=30 May 1924|access-date=13 September 2019|website=Irish Statute Book}}

1 January 1983

|Transfer of Adoption to the Department of Health{{Cite Irish legislation|year=1982|type=si|number=327|name=Justice (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 1982|date=16 November 1982|access-date=13 September 2019}}

3 February 1993

|Transfer of Civil law reform, civil legal aid and the family mediation service to the Department of Equality and Law Reform{{Cite Irish legislation|year=1993|type=si|number=34|name=Justice (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 1993|date=3 February 1993|access-date=13 September 2019}}

8 July 1997

|Transfer of Equality and Law Reform from the Department of Equality and Law Reform{{Cite Irish legislation|year=1997|type=si|number=297|name=Equality and Law Reform (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 1997|date=8 July 1997|access-date=13 September 2019}}

9 July 1997

|Renamed as the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform{{Cite Irish legislation|year=1997|type=si|number=298|name=Justice (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 1997|date=8 July 1997|access-date=13 September 2019}}

27 July 2001

|Transfer of Charities to the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs{{Cite Irish legislation|year=2001|type=si|number=376|name=Charities and Street and House-to-House Collections (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2001|date=27 July 2001|access-date=18 July 2020}}

1 June 2010

|Transfer of Equality, Integration, Disability and Human Rights to the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs{{Cite Irish legislation|year=2010|type=si|number=217|name=Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2010|date=18 May 2010|access-date=13 September 2019}}

2 June 2010

|Renamed as the Department of Justice and Law Reform{{Cite Irish legislation|year=2010|type=si|number=216|name=Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2010|date=18 May 2010|access-date=13 September 2019}}

1 April 2011

|Transfer of Equality, Integration, Disability and Human Rights from the Department of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs{{Cite Irish legislation|year=2011|type=si|number=139|name=Equality, Integration, Disability and Human Rights (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2011|date=29 March 2011|access-date=13 September 2019}}

2 April 2011

|Renamed as the Department of Justice and Equality{{Cite Irish legislation|year=2011|type=si|number=138|name=Justice and Law Reform (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2011|date=29 March 2011|access-date=13 September 2019}}

1 May 2011

|Transfer of Charities from the Department of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs{{Cite Irish legislation|year=2011|type=si|number=194|name=Charities and Street and House-to-House Collections (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2011|date=19 April 2011|access-date=18 July 2020}}

1 January 2013

|Transfer of Equality Tribunal to the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation{{Cite Irish legislation|year=2012|type=si|number=531|name=Equality Tribunal (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2017|date=18 December 2012|access-date=18 September 2020}}

19 June 2013

|Transfer of Censorship of Publications to the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht{{Cite Irish legislation|year=2013|type=si|number=255|name=Censorship of Publications Board and Censorship of Publications Appeal Board (Transfer of Ministerial Functions) Order 2013|date=19 June 2013|access-date=21 September 2020}}

10 March 2015

|Transfer of Censorship of Publications from the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht{{Cite Irish legislation|year=2015|type=si|number=89|name=Censorship of Publications Board and Censorship of Publications Appeal Board (Transfer of Ministerial Functions) Order 2015|date=10 March 2015|access-date=21 September 2020}}

1 January 2016

|Transfer of Ordnance Survey Ireland from the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment{{Cite Irish legislation|year=2015|type=si|number=637|name=Ordnance Survey Ireland (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2015|date=1 December 2015|access-date=17 September 2020}}

1 January 2016

|Transfer of the Valuation Office from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform{{Cite Irish legislation|year=2015|type=si|number=638|name=Valuation Office (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2015|date=1 December 2015|access-date=17 September 2020}}

26 July 2017

|Transfer of Charities to the Department of Rural and Community Development{{Cite Irish legislation|year=2017|type=si|number=348|name=Charities (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2017|date=26 July 2017|access-date=18 July 2020}}

1 January 2018

|Transfer of Ordnance Survey Ireland to the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government{{Cite Irish legislation|year=2017|type=si|number=573|name=Ordnance Survey Ireland (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2017|date=12 December 2017|access-date=17 September 2020}}

1 January 2018

|Transfer of Property Registration Authority to the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government{{Cite Irish legislation|year=2017|type=si|number=574|name=Ordnance Survey Ireland (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2017|date=12 December 2017|access-date=17 September 2020}}

1 January 2018

|Transfer of Valuation Office to the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government{{Cite Irish legislation|year=2017|type=si|number=575|name=Valuation Office and Valuation Tribunal (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2017|date=12 December 2017|access-date=17 September 2020}}

14 October 2020

|Transfer of Youth Justice from the Department of Children and Youth Affairs{{Cite Irish legislation|year=2020|type=si|number=435|name=Youth Justice (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2020|date=13 October 2020|access-date=16 October 2020}}

14 October 2020

|Transfer of Disability, Equality, Human Rights, Integration and Reception to the Department of Children and Youth Affairs{{Cite Irish legislation|year=2020|type=si|number=436|name=Disability, Equality, Human Rights, Integration and Reception (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2020|date=13 October 2020|access-date=16 October 2020}}

1 November 2020

|Renamed as the Department of Justice{{Cite Irish legislation|year=2020|type=si|number=452|name=Justice and Equality (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2020|date=20 October 2020|access-date=1 November 2020}}

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • {{official website}}
  • [https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-justice/organisation-information/department-of-justice-who-does-what/ Structure of the Department]
  • [https://whereyourmoneygoes.gov.ie/en/justice/2025/ Spending by the Department]

{{Irish Government Departments}}

{{authority control}}

Justice

Ireland, Justice

Category:1919 establishments in Ireland

Ireland