page_title: Scottish Government
section_title: Cabinet Secretaries, Junior Ministers & Law Officers
hierarchical_section_title: Scottish Government / Cabinet Secretaries, Junior Ministers & Law Officers
caption_attribution_description: English: North side of Charlotte Square
context_page_description: The Scottish Government is the devolved government of Scotland.
  The government is led by the First Minister, who selects the Cabinet Secretaries, who attend Cabinet, and Ministers with the approval of Parliament. Government ministers all sit in parliament, and are accountable to it. The government is dependent on parliament to pass primary legislation.
  The Government was established in 1999 as the Scottish Executive under the Scotland Act 1998, which created a devolved administration of Scotland in line with the result of the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution. Following increasing use of the name "Government" in place of "Executive" during the first decade of the 21st century, its name was formally changed in law to Scottish Government by the Scotland Act 2012.
context_section_description: The government is led by the first minister. The Scottish Parliament nominates one of its members to be appointed as first minister by the head of state. He or she is assisted by various Cabinet secretaries with individual portfolios, who are appointed by the first minister with the approval of Parliament. Junior ministers are similarly appointed to assist Cabinet secretaries in their work. The Scottish law officers, the lord advocate and solicitor general, can be appointed without being a member of the Scottish Parliament, however, they are subject to Parliament's approval and scrutiny. Law officers are also appointed by the head of state on the recommendation of the first minister. The first minister, Cabinet secretaries, junior ministers and the law officers are known collectively as the "Scottish Ministers".
  The Scottish Government uses a government structure that has a dual executive structure of a Cabinet that invokes collective decision-making, as well as non-cabinet members as junior ministers. A Cabinet secretary is a member of the Government who partakes in Cabinet, whereas junior ministers assist Cabinet secretaries but are not part of the Scottish Cabinet. The Cabinet secretaries and junior ministers are:
caption: Bute House, the official residence of the First Minister of Scotland.
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