Department of Justice and Equality
The Department of Justice is a department of the Government of Ireland. It is led by the Minister for Justice who is assisted by a Minister of State. The department's mission is to maintain and enhance community security and to promote a fairer society in Ireland.
Departmental team
- Minister for Justice: Helen McEntee, TD
- *Minister of State for Law Reform: Charlie McConalogue
- Secretary General of the Department: Aidan O'Driscoll
Overview
- 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
The official headquarters and Ministerial offices of the department are in 94 St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2.
Responsibilities
The department's main areas of responsibility include:- Implementing government policy on crime and protecting the security of the State.
- Providing policy advice in relation to the criminal justice system and supporting the operation of this system.
- Continuing reform of the criminal law and certain areas of the civil law.
- Playing a central part in the implementation of core elements in the Belfast Agreement.
- Co-operating in relevant EU and international matters and promoting Ireland's interests within the associated areas of responsibility.
- Implementing the Government's asylum strategy and further developing national immigration policy.
Executive Agencies
- Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service
- Reception and Integration Agency
- Forensic Science Ireland
- Probation and Welfare Service
- Irish Prison Service
Affiliated bodies
- Garda Síochána
- Courts Service of Ireland
- Equality Authority
- Workplace Relations Commission
- Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission
- Garda Síochána Inspectorate
- Legal Aid Board
- State Pathologist's Office
- National Disability Authority
- Office of the Data Protection Commissioner
- Irish Film Classification Office
- Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner
- International Protection Appeals Tribunal
- Private Security Authority
- Property Registration Authority
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:The Schedule assigned it with the following bodies:
- 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
| Date | Effect |
| 2 June 1924 | Establishment of the Department of Justice |
| 3 February 1993 | Transfer of Civil law reform, civil legal aid and the family mediation service to the Department of Equality and Law Reform |
| 8 July 1997 | Transfer of Equality and Law Reform from the Department of Equality and Law Reform |
| 9 July 1997 | Renamed as the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform |
| 27 July 2001 | Transfer of Charities to the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs |
| 1 June 2010 | Transfer of Equality, Integration, Disability and Human Rights to the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs |
| 2 June 2010 | Renamed as the Department of Justice and Law Reform |
| 1 April 2011 | Transfer of Equality, Integration, Disability and Human Rights from the Department of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs |
| 2 April 2011 | Renamed as the Department of Justice and Equality |
| 1 May 2011 | Transfer of Charities from the Department of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs |
| 26 July 2017 | Transfer of Charities to the Department of Rural and Community Development |