Northern Ireland Office written question – answered at on 12 June 2026.
Alex Easton
Independent, North Down
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Minister of Justice on public confidence in sentencing decisions in Northern Ireland; and whether he has made an assessment of trends in the level of public confidence in the criminal justice system.
Hilary Benn
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
It is important that there is confidence in the justice system. I regularly meet with the Northern Ireland Minister of Justice to discuss areas of mutual interest and concern.
Policing and justice, with the exception of national security, are devolved matters. As such, I understand that the Minister of Justice has introduced the Criminal Justice (Sentencing etc) Bill in the Northern Ireland Assembly, which aims to create more stringent sentences for a range of offences.
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Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
