Department of Justice (Western Australia)

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Department of Justice Western Australia
Agency overview
FormedJuly 2017
DissolvedDepartment of the Attorney General
Department of Corrective Services
Jurisdiction Government of Western Australia
Headquarters David Malcolm Justice Centre, 28 Barrack Street, Perth
Agency executive
  • Kylie Maj, Director General
Website www.justice.wa.gov.au

The Department of Justice is the Western Australian government department responsible for the provision of justice, legal, corrective, registry, guardianship and trustee services to meet the needs of the community and the Western Australian Government. [1]

Contents

History

The original Department of Attorney General existed between 1891 and 1909. [2]

The subsequent department between 1909 and 1993 was named the Crown Law Department and was the longest lasting entity under the one name. [3]

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. [4] During which time, the Ministry of Justice formed an SDA with the Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities in order to provide the administration of justice to the external territories of Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands. [5] [6]

Then it was changed to the Department of Justice between 2001 and 2006. [7]

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. [7]

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. [8]

Start Date [4] Crown LawCorrections
1 January 1881Judicial Department
1 January 1890UnknownGaols Department
1 January 1891Department of Attorney General
1 January 1909Crown Law Department
1 January 1947Prisons Department
1 January 1971Department of Corrections
1 August 1982Prisons Department
3 April 1987Department of Corrective Services
1 January 1993Ministry of Justice
1 July 2001Department of Justice
1 February 2006Department of the Attorney GeneralDepartment of Corrective Services
1 July 2017Department of Justice

Sub-departments

The current department in its structure has multiple sub departments: [9]

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). [10]

While the Attorney General is an elected Member of Parliament, the Solicitor-General is an independent position, and a civil servant. The Attorney General may delegate functions to the Solicitor-General.

On 10 October 2018, Joshua Thomson SC was appointed Solicitor General for a term of 5 years. [11] He replaced Peter Quinlan SC , who was appointed Chief Justice of Western Australia.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Department of Justice". Government of Western Australia. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  2. ↑ "AU WA A69 - DEPARTMENT OF ATTORNEY GENERAL". State Records Office of WA.
  3. ↑ "AU WA A68 - CROWN LAW DEPARTMENT". State Records Office of WA.
  4. 1 2 "AU WA A643 - MINISTRY OF JUSTICE". State Records Office of WA.
  5. ↑ "Chapter 7: STATE-TYPE SERVICES – CHRISTMAS ISLAND" (PDF). Australian Government Commonwealth Grants Commission.
  6. ↑ "Chapter 6: STATE-TYPE SERVICES – THE COCOS (KEELING) ISLANDS" (PDF). Australian Government Commonwealth Grants Commission.
  7. 1 2 "AU WA A1225 - DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE [1]". State Records Office of WA.
  8. ↑ "Final Report 2016-2017" (PDF). Department of Corrective Services. eISSN   1836-6546. ISSN   1836-6538.
  9. ↑ "Department Structure". Department of the Attorney General. Archived from the original on 25 May 2009.
  10. ↑ "Solicitor General". Department of the Attorney General. 12 March 2009. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  11. ↑ "Joshua Thomson SC named WA's second law officer". Government of Western Australia. 4 October 2018. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2018.

Further reading

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