A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other

government agency A government agency or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government (bureaucracy) that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, s ...

in charge of the

administration of justice The administration of justice is the process by which the legal system of a government is executed. The presumed goal of such an administration is to provide justice for all those accessing the legal system. Australia In ''Attorney General for ...

. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a very few countries) or a secretary of justice. In some countries, the head of the department may be called the

attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

, for example in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

is an example of a country that does not have a ministry of justice, but rather a Directorate of Judicial Services (head: Secretary of Justice) that oversees the administration of justice.

Vatican City Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...

, a country under the sovereignty of the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

, also does not possess a ministry of justice. Instead, the

Governorate of Vatican City State The Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State (, ) is the legislative body of Vatican City. It consists of a president, who also holds the title of President of the Governorate and deputizes as the head of government of Vatican City, as well ...

(head: President of the Governorate of Vatican City State), the legislative body of the Vatican, includes a legal office. Depending on the country, specific duties may relate to organizing the

justice system The contemporary national legal systems are generally based on one of four major legal traditions: civil law, common law, customary law, religious law or combinations of these. However, the legal system of each country is shaped by its unique hi ...

, overseeing the

public prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in civil law. The prosecution is the legal party responsible ...

and national investigative agencies (e.g. the American

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

), and maintaining the

legal system A legal system is a set of legal norms and institutions and processes by which those norms are applied, often within a particular jurisdiction or community. It may also be referred to as a legal order. The comparative study of legal systems is th ...

and

public order Public order may refer to * Public security: the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety and security of the public from significant danger or property damage * Public order policing: police maintenance of order ...

. Some ministries have additional responsibilities in related policy areas such as overseeing

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

, directing the

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

, law reform, and administration of the immigration and citizenship services. Some nations separate the duties of the ministry of justice from responsibility for the prosecution of criminal cases, such that the duties of an

or similar officer reside in a separate office. Sometimes the

prison system A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are imprisoned under the authority of the state, usually as punishment for various crim ...

is separated into another government department called Corrective Services.

Historical

Ministry of Justice (imperial China) The Ministry or was one of the Three Departments and Six Ministries, Six Ministries under the Department of State Affairs in history of China, imperial China. Functions Under the Ming government, Ming, the Ministry of Justice had charge of most ...

: A Chinese government ministry between the Sui and Qing dynasties * Ministry of Justice (pre-modern Japan): A Japanese government ministry between the Asuka and Meiji periods *

Ministry of Justice (Soviet Union) The Ministry of Justice of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) (, ''Ministerstvo Yustitsii SSSR''), formed on 15 March 1946, was one of the most important government offices in the Soviet Union. It was formerly (until 1946) known as th ...

: A government ministry of the USSR that existed from 1923 to 1991 *

Ministry of Justice (Yugoslavia) The Ministry of Justice of Yugoslavia refers to the justice ministry which was responsible for judicial system of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia from 1918 to 1941 and the communist Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, SFR Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1 ...

: The justice ministry that was responsible for the judicial system of the following:

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

(1918-1945),

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

(1945-1992), and

FR Yugoslavia The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

period (1992–2003)

References

{{Authority control

Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

Related articles and lists

Historical

See also

References