The secretary of state for justice (SEJUS) is a senior minister in the Spanish Ministry of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Cortes responsible for the government policy regarding justice.
In this regard, the secretary of state assists the minister in the design of this policy and in the institutional relations with the bodies related to justice (General Council of the Judiciary, Prosecution Ministry, courts of justice, regional ministries of justice and with associations related to legal professions). It also supports the minister in all related to development of the legal system, international legal cooperation and civil registration.
The secretary of state for justice is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the justice minister, after hearing the Council of Ministers. Since November 29, 2023, the officeholder is judge Manuel Olmedo Palacios.
History The Secretariat of State for Justice was created on 13 May 1994, when the ministries of Justice and the Interior were merged. The Secretariat was organized through a General Secretariat for Justice and several directorates general (Judicial Infrastructure; Registries and Notaries; State Legal Service—current Solicitor General—, Conscientious Objection; Codification and International Legal Cooperation; Religious Affairs).
As of 1996, the restored Directorate-General for Relations with the Administration of Justice was integrated into it and the cabinet of religious affairs was elevated to the rank of directorate-general. Likewise, the General Secretariat of Justice was abolished and the Judicial Studies Center and the Judicial General Mutuality were assigned to the Secretariat of State for Justice. The structure of the department was not touched again until 2001 when the Directorate-General for the Modernization of the Administration of Justice was created in its midst.
Except for certain changes between its directorates-general, its structure was not modified until 2008, in which the General Secretariat for Modernization and Relations with the Administration of Justice (current SGAJ) was created as an intermediate body between the Secretary of State and some of its addresses general.
In 2010, it underwent its most relevant modification and is still preserved today. The Solicitor General and the Directorate General of Registries and Notaries were directly attached to the Minister and the Secretary of State assumed the competences over international legal cooperation. In 2015, the Office of Asset Recovery and Management (ORGA) was created and assigned to the Secretary of State. As of 2018, the powers of the ORGA are assumed by the Secretary-General for the Administration of Justice (SGAJ).
In 2020, the new justice minister, Juan Carlos Campo, renamed all the Ministry's departments. Despite the name change of the Secretariat of State's bodies, the responsibilities were the same, with the exception of those relating to religious freedom, which were transferred from the Directorate-General for International Legal Cooperation, Relations with Religions, and Human Rights to the Undersecretariat of the Presidency, and the legal security and notaries responsibilities, which were transferred from the Undersecretariat of Justice to the Secretariat of State.
Organization , this is the organization of the Secretariat of State: +Secretariat of State Organization (2026)Secretary of StateCabinet (Chief of Staff)Centre for Legal StudiesGeneral Mutual Benefit Society for the Personnel of the Administration of JusticeGeneral Secretariat forInnovation and Quality of thePublic Justice ServiceTechnical CabinetDirectorate-General for Efficiency of the Public Justice ServiceDirectorate-General for Digital Transformation of the Administration of JusticeDirectorate-General for Legal Certainty and Public AttestationDeputy Directorate-General for Innovation and Quality of the Judicial Administrative OfficeDirectorate-General forInternational Legal CooperationDeputy Directorate-General for International Legal CooperationDeputy Directorate-General for EU Justice Affairs and International Organizations
List of secretaries of state For the purpose of this list, the date used is the date on which the decree of appointment or dismissal received royal assent, which may differ from the date of publication or of the effective taking of office. Name Term of OfficeGovernment Start End DuraPrime MinisterMonarchMaría Teresa Fernández de la Vega13 May 19947 May 1996Felipe GonzálezJuan Carlos IJosé Luis González Montes10 May 19965 May 2000José María AznarJosé María Michavila5 May 200012 July 2002Rafael Catalá26 July 200219 April 2004Luis López Guerra19 April 200416 February 2007José Luis Rodríguez ZapateroJulio Pérez Hernández16 February 200727 February 2009Juan Carlos Campo27 February 200930 December 2011Fernando Román García30 December 201110 October 2014Mariano RajoyFelipe VICarmen Sánchez-Cortés Martín10 October 201418 June 2018Manuel-Jesús Dolz Lago18 June 201829 January 2020Pedro SánchezPablo Zapatero Miguel29 January 20207 December 2021Antonio Julián Rodríguez Esquerdo7 December 202128 November 2023Manuel Olmedo Palacios28 November 2023Incumbent
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