# Committee for Justice

The Committee for Justice is a Northern Ireland Assembly committee established to advise, assist and scrutinise the work of the Department of Justice and the Minister of Justice (currently Naomi Long). The Committee undertakes a scrutiny, policy development and consultation role with respect to the Department of Justice and plays a key role in the consideration and development of legislation.
The committee was created following the devolution of policing and justice on 12 April 2010, as a result of the Hillsborough Castle Agreement, agreed under the premiership of Gordon Brown on 5 February 2010.

## 2022–2027 Assembly

The committee met for the first time in the 2022–2027 Assembly on 15 February 2024.
| Party | Member | Constituency |
| DUP | Joanne Bunting MLA (Chairperson) | Belfast East |
| Sinn Féin | Deirdre Hargey MLA (Deputy Chairperson) | Belfast South |
| UUP | Doug Beattie MLA | Upper Bann |
| DUP | Maurice Bradley MLA | East Londonderry |
| Alliance | Stewart Dickson MLA | East Antrim |
| Ind. Unionist | Alex Easton MLA | North Down |
| Sinn Féin | Sinéad Ennis MLA | South Down |
| Sinn Féin | Ciara Ferguson MLA | Foyle |
| Ind. Nationalist | Justin McNulty MLA | Newry and Armagh |

## 2017–2022 Assembly

The committee met for the first time in the 2017–2022 Assembly on 22 January 2020.
| Party | Member | Constituency |
| DUP | Paul Givan MLA (Chairperson) | Lagan Valley |
| Sinn Féin | Linda Dillon MLA (Deputy Chairperson) | Mid Ulster |
| UUP | Doug Beattie MLA | Upper Bann |
| DUP | Gordon Dunne MLA | North Down |
| DUP | Paul Frew MLA | North Antrim |
| Sinn Féin | Raymond McCartney MLA | Foyle |
| SDLP | Patsy McGlone MLA | Mid Ulster |
| Sinn Féin | Pat Sheehan MLA | Belfast West |
| Green (NI) | Rachel Woods MLA | North Down |

### Changes 2017–2022

| Date | Outgoing member and party | Outgoing member and party | Constituency | → | New member and party | New member and party | Constituency |
| 3 February 2020 | | Raymond McCartney MLA (Sinn Féin) | Foyle | → | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant |
| 17 February 2020 | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | → | | Martina Anderson MLA (Sinn Féin) | Foyle |
| 9 March 2020 | | Martina Anderson MLA (Sinn Féin) | Foyle | → | | Emma Rogan MLA (Sinn Féin) | South Down |
| 16 March 2020 | | Pat Sheehan MLA (Sinn Féin) | Belfast West | → | | Jemma Dolan MLA (Sinn Féin) | Fermanagh and South Tyrone |
| 26 May 2020 | | Patsy McGlone MLA (SDLP) | Mid Ulster | → | | Sinéad Bradley MLA (SDLP) | South Down |
| 3 November 2020 | | Karen Mullan MLA (Sinn Féin) | Foyle | → | | Pat Sheehan MLA (Sinn Féin) | Belfast West |
| 14 June 2021 | | Paul Givan MLA (Chairperson, DUP) | Lagan Valley | → | | Mervyn Storey MLA (Chairperson, DUP) | North Antrim |
| 21 June 2021 | | Paul Frew MLA (DUP) | North Antrim | → | | Robin Newton MLA (DUP) | Belfast North |
| 21 June 2021 | | Gordon Dunne MLA (DUP) | North Down | → | | Peter Weir MLA (DUP) | Strangford |
| 2 August 2021 | | Linda Dillon MLA (Deputy Chairperson, Sinn Féin) | Mid Ulster | → | | Sinéad Ennis MLA (Deputy Chairperson, Sinn Féin) | South Down |
Source:

## 2016–2017 Assembly

The committee met for the first time in the 2016–2017 Assembly on 1 June 2016.
| Party | Member | Constituency |
| DUP | Paul Frew MLA (Chairperson) | North Antrim |
| DUP | Pam Cameron MLA (Deputy Chairperson) | South Antrim |
| SDLP | Alex Attwood MLA | Belfast West |
| Green (NI) | Clare Bailey MLA | Belfast South |
| UUP | Doug Beattie MLA | Upper Bann |
| UUP | Roy Beggs Jr MLA | East Antrim |
| Sinn Féin | Michaela Boyle MLA | West Tyrone |
| DUP | Sammy Douglas MLA | Belfast East |
| Sinn Féin | Declan Kearney MLA | South Antrim |
| Alliance | Trevor Lunn MLA | Lagan Valley |
| Sinn Féin | Pat Sheehan MLA | Belfast West |

## 2011–2016 Assembly

The committee met for the first time in the 2011–2016 Assembly on 26 May 2011.
| Party | Member | Constituency |
| DUP | Paul Givan MLA (Chairperson) | Lagan Valley |
| Sinn Féin | Raymond McCartney MLA (Deputy Chairperson) | Foyle |
| DUP | Sydney Anderson MLA | Upper Bann |
| Alliance | Stewart Dickson MLA | East Antrim |
| SDLP | Colum Eastwood MLA | Foyle |
| Sinn Féin | Seán Lynch MLA | Fermanagh and South Tyrone |
| SDLP | Alban Maginness MLA | Belfast North |
| Sinn Féin | Jennifer McCann MLA | Belfast West |
| UUP | Basil McCrea MLA | Lagan Valley |
| DUP | Peter Weir MLA | North Down |
| DUP | Jim Wells MLA | South Down |

### Changes 2011–2016

| Date | Outgoing member and party | Constituency | → | New member and party | Constituency |
| 23 April 2012 | Colum Eastwood MLA (SDLP) | Foyle | → | Patsy McGlone MLA (SDLP) | Mid Ulster |
| 23 April 2012 | Basil McCrea MLA (UUP) | Lagan Valley | → | Tom Elliott MLA (UUP) | Fermanagh and South Tyrone |
| 10 September 2012 | Jennifer McCann MLA (Sinn Féin) | Belfast West | → | Rosie McCorley MLA (Sinn Féin) | Belfast West |
| 1 October 2012 | Sydney Anderson MLA (DUP) | Upper Bann | → | William Humphrey MLA (DUP) | Belfast North |
| 1 October 2012 | Peter Weir MLA (DUP) | North Down | → | Alex Easton MLA (DUP) | North Down |
| 15 September 2013 | Alex Easton MLA (DUP) | North Down | → | Sydney Anderson MLA (DUP) | Upper Bann |
| 6 October 2014 | Sydney Anderson MLA (DUP) | Upper Bann | → | Sammy Douglas MLA (DUP) | Belfast East |
| 6 October 2014 | William Humphrey MLA (DUP) | Belfast North | → | Paul Frew MLA (DUP) | North Antrim |
| 6 October 2014 | Jim Wells MLA (DUP) | South Down | → | Edwin Poots MLA (DUP) | Lagan Valley |
| 6 October 2014 | Rosie McCorley MLA (Sinn Féin) | Belfast West | → | Chris Hazzard MLA (DUP) | South Down |
| 10 December 2014 | Paul Givan MLA (Chairperson, DUP) | Lagan Valley | → | Alastair Ross MLA (Chairperson, DUP) | East Antrim |
| 30 June 2015 | Tom Elliott MLA (UUP) | Fermanagh and South Tyrone | → | Neil Somerville MLA (UUP) | Fermanagh and South Tyrone |
| 15 September 2015 | Chris Hazzard MLA (Sinn Féin) | South Down | → | Bronwyn McGahan MLA (Sinn Féin) | Fermanagh and South Tyrone |
| 30 November 2015 | Neil Somerville MLA (UUP) | Fermanagh and South Tyrone | → | Danny Kennedy MLA (UUP) | Newry and Armagh |
| 8 February 2016 | Patsy McGlone MLA (SDLP) | Mid Ulster | → | Alex Attwood MLA (SDLP) | Belfast West |

## 2007–2011 Assembly

The committee met for the first time in the 2007–2011 Assembly on 22 April 2010.
| Party | Member | Constituency |
| DUP | Maurice Morrow MLA (Chairperson) | Fermanagh and South Tyrone |
| Sinn Féin | Raymond McCartney MLA (Deputy Chairperson) | Foyle |
| DUP | Jonathan Bell MLA | Strangford |
| DUP | Jeffrey Donaldson MLA | Lagan Valley |
| UUP | Tom Elliott MLA | Fermanagh and South Tyrone |
| DUP | Jeffrey Donaldson MLA | Lagan Valley |
| SDLP | Dolores Kelly MLA | Upper Bann |
| SDLP | Alban Maginness MLA | Belfast North |
| UUP | David McNarry MLA | Strangford |
| Sinn Féin | Carál Ní Chuilín MLA | Belfast North |
| DUP | Alastair Ross MLA | East Antrim |

### Changes 2007–2011

| Date | Outgoing member and party | Outgoing member and party | Constituency | → | New member and party | New member and party | Constituency |
| 25 May 2010 | | Dolores Kelly MLA (SDLP) | Upper Bann | → | | Conall McDevitt MLA (SDLP) | Belfast South |
| 10 June 2010 | | Jeffrey Donaldson MLA (DUP) | Lagan Valley | → | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant |
| 25 June 2010 | | Alastair Ross MLA (DUP) | East Antrim | → | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant |
| 28 June 2010 | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | → | | Paul Givan MLA (DUP) | Lagan Valley |
| 21 July 2010 | | Jonathan Bell MLA (DUP) | Strangford | → | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant |
| 14 September 2009 | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | → | | Wallace Browne MLA (DUP) | Belfast East |
| 14 September 2009 | Vacant | Vacant | Vacant | → | | Tom Buchanan MLA (DUP) | West Tyrone |
| 9 November 2010 | | Tom Elliott MLA (UUP) | Fermanagh and South Tyrone | → | | Reg Empey MLA (UUP) | Belfast East |