The Department of Justice is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive. The current Minister of Justice is David Ford, who is a member of the Northern Ireland Executive. The department was established on 12 April 2010 as part of the devolution of justice matters to the Northern Ireland Assembly. It combines the previous work of the Northern Ireland Office and the Ministry of Justice, within the United Kingdom Government, which were respectively responsible for general justice policy and the courts in Northern Ireland.