Minister for Youth Justice (New South Wales)

Prior to 1873 there were two legal officers in the ministry, Attorney General and the Solicitor General, however there was only one portfolio, the law officers of the crown. The Attorney was the senior law officer and responsible for the work of the Solicitor-General, Crown Solicitors, parliamentary draftsmen, the administration of the courts and supporting officers such as the Sheriff and Coroner. The Solicitor General represented the crown in court,[lower-alpha 1] provided legal advice to the government, drafted bills and helped to prepare civil and criminal litigation.[4]

When the Attorney General Edward Butler resigned, the Solicitor General Joseph Innes was promoted to first law officer. Innes was not however replaced as Solicitor General. Instead Parkes created the new ministry of justice and public instruction. The minister assumed responsibility for the administration of the courts, sheriff and coroner, as well as the Council of Education, orphan schools, the public library, Australian Museum and observatory.[5] The first minister George Allen, was a solicitor who had a particular interest in education, having previously served as a commissioner of National education, supported the incorporation of the Sydney Grammar School and having a seat on the Council of Education immediately prior to his appointment as responsible minister.[6]

Prisons remained the responsibility of the Colonial Secretary.[7] In 1880 the ministry was split into the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Public Instruction.[5]

Prior to 1880 the Minister of Justice and Public Instruction was responsible for the administration of the courts, sheriff and coroner, as well as the Council of Education, orphan schools, the public library, Australian Museum and observatory.[8] In 1880 the ministry was split into the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Public Instruction following the passage of the Public Instruction Act of 1880 which required a minister to assume the responsibilities of the former Council of Education.[9][10]

The minister also assumed responsibility for prisons which had previously been the responsibility of the Colonial Secretary, however the Colonial Secretary retained responsibility for police.[7] The Minister for Justice was briefly responsible for Police from 1974 until 1975.[11] In 1978 the minister ceased to be responsible for prisons which became the responsibility of the Minister for Corrective Services.[9]

The ministry was held by the Attorney General in the third to sixth Wran ministries and was formally subsumed into the responsibilities of the Attorney General in the seventh Wran ministry in 1984. The portfolio was re-created in 1991, known for three weeks as the Minister for Courts Administration and Corrective Services, before returning to the name Minister for Justice.[12] The ministry was abolished in the First Carr ministry in 1995, with justice returning to be the responsibility of the Attorney General,[7] and juvenile justice being the responsibility of a separate minister. It was re-created in the Fourth Carr ministry in 2003 and was abolished in the Rees ministry in 2011.[13] The portfolio was re-created in the O'Farrell ministry in 2011, combined with the portfolio of police in 2015 and was abolished in the first Berejiklian ministry in 2017, replaced by the Minister for Counter Terrorism.[14]