The Department of Justice is the current

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

n government department responsible for the provision of high quality and accessible justice, legal, registry, guardianship and trustee services to meet the needs of the community and the Western Australian Government.

History

The original ''Department of Attorney General'' existed between 1891 and 1909. The subsequent department between 1909 and 1993 was named the ''Crown Law Department'' and was the longest lasting entity under the one name. In 1993 the ''Ministry of Justice'' was formed by the amalgamation of the former Corrective Services and Crown Law Departments and the Youth Justice Bureau, as well as some of the functions of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs. During which time, the Ministry of Justice formed an SDA with the

Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Cities was an Australian Public Service department of the Government of Australia that existed between December 2017 and May 2019, charged with the responsibility for infrastr ...

in order to provide the administration of justice to the external territories of

Christmas Island Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an Australian external territory comprising the island of the same name. It is located in the Indian Ocean, around south of Java and Sumatra and around north-west of the ...

and

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. Then it was changed to the ''Department of Justice'' between 2001 and 2006. On 1 February 2006, the ''Department of Justice'' was abolished, and functions of the department passed to two newly formed departments: the ''Department of the Attorney General'' and the Department of Corrective Services. On 1 July 2017, the Department of the Attorney General and the Department of Corrective Services were amalgamated to form the Department of Justice, as part of the Machinery of Government changes introduced earlier that year.

Sub-departments

The current department in its structure has multiple sub departments:http://www.department.dotag.wa.gov.au/C/corporate_structure.aspx?uid=7758-4778-9101-3976, Department of the Attorney General - Departmental Structure * Policy & Aboriginal Services - "Develops policy and legislation for the Government and information for Departmental business areas. Aboriginal mediation. Aboriginal justice." * Court and Tribunal Services - "Courts, tribunals and boards, victim support, court security, fines enforcement, justices of the peace." * Parliamentary Counsel's Office - "Legislative drafting services to Government." * Office of the Public Advocate - "Advocacy, guardianship and community education services on behalf of people with decision-making disabilities." * Public Trustee - "Trustee services to WA community." * Registry of Births, Deaths, & Marriages - "Creates and stores birth, death and marriage records; conducts civil marriages." * State Solicitor's Office - "Legal Services to Government." * Corporate Services - "Asset and contract management, business services, financial management, human resources, information services."

Solicitor General

The principal legal adviser to the Attorney General is the Solicitor-General who is described as the second law officer of the State. The Office of the Solicitor General was created with the Solicitor General Act (1969). While the Attorney General is a political appointment, the Solicitor General is an independent position. The Attorney General may delegate functions to the Solicitor General. On 10 October 2018,

Joshua Thomson Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...

was appointed Solicitor General for a term of 5 years. He replaced

Peter Quinlan Peter Damien Quinlan is the Chief Justice of Western Australia. His appointment was announced on 1 August 2018, and took effect on 13 August. He was the Solicitor-General of Western Australia from 2016 to 2018. Quinlan attended John XXIII Col ...

, who was appointed

Chief Justice of Western Australia The Chief Justice of Western Australia is the most senior judge of the Supreme Court of Western Australia and the highest ranking judicial officer in the Australian state of Western Australia. The chief justice is both the judicial head of the Su ...

Preceding and related agencies

Preceding and related agencies.https://archive.sro.wa.gov.au/index.php/ministry-of-justice-au-wa-a643 Department of Justice and related authorities : Ministry of Justice (1993-01-01 - 2001-07-01) : Crown Law Department (1909-01-01 - 1993-01-01) : Department of Corrective Services (1987-04-03 - 1993-01-01) : Prisons Department (1982-08-01 - 1987-04-03) : Department of Corrections (1971-01-01 - 1982-08-01) : Prisons Department (1947-01-01 - 1971-01-01) : Gaols Department (1890-01-01 - 1947-01-01) : Department of the Attorney General (2006-02-01 - 2017-07-01) : Department of Corrective Services (2006-02-01 - 2017-07-01)

References

External links

* {{Government departments of Western Australia

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...