Law officers of the Crown
The Law Officers of the Crown are the chief legal advisers to the Crown, and advise and represent the various governments in the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth Realms. In England and Wales, and most Commonwealth and colonial governments, the chief law officer of the Crown is the Attorney General. In Scotland, the law officer has traditionally been the Lord Advocate, but a new position of Advocate General for Scotland was created following devolution to the Scottish Parliament.
England and Wales
The Attorney General for England and Wales is the chief legal adviser of the Crown in England and Wales, and a member of the Government. The Attorney General provides legal advice to the Government of the day. By convention, this legal advice is available to subsequent governments, unlike the papers of other ministers.
The current Attorney General is Dominic Grieve, QC. He is assisted by the Solicitor General for England and Wales, currently Edward Garnier MP QC. Under the Law Officers Act 1997, the Solicitor General may do anything on behalf of, or in the place of, the Attorney General, and vice versa.
The Attorney General oversees the small Attorney General's Office and also has responsibility for the Treasury Solicitor's Department. The Treasury Solicitor acts on behalf of the Attorney General when representation in court is required.
The Attorney General also has supervisory powers over prosecutions, including those mounted by the Crown Prosecution Service, headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions); the Serious Fraud Office; and the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office.
The Attorney General has public interest functions, being, for example, the trustee of default where a sole trustee has died, and can also take cases to the Law Lords where points of general legal importance need to be settled.
Under the Government of Wales Act 2006, the Counsel General for Wales is the chief legal adviser to the Welsh Assembly Government.
Scotland
The chief legal adviser in Scotland is the Lord Advocate, currently Elish Angiolini.
The Lord Advocate heads the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, and is the chief public prosecutor in Scotland.
Under the recent constitutional reforms, the Lord Advocate has become a member of the Scottish Executive, while the United Kingdom Government is advised on Scots law by the holder of the newly created post of Advocate General for Scotland.
The Lord Advocate is assisted by the Solicitor General for Scotland, currently Frank Mulholland
Northern Ireland
In 1972 the functions of the former Attorney General for Northern Ireland were conferred on the Attorney General for England and Wales as part of direct rule. When policing and justice are devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly under the St Andrews Agreement, these functions will be split between a new Attorney General for Northern Ireland and an Advocate General for Northern Ireland. Some other current functions of the Attorney General for Northern Ireland will be conferred on the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland.
After the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister announced plans to break the deadlock on the devolution of policing and justice, it was revealed that John Larkin QC would be invited to take up the post of Attorney General for Northern Ireland.
Commonwealth
Most Commonwealth and colonial governments also have their own Attorneys General. Sometimes the legal advisers of subnational governments are given the title Advocate General.
Other persons
Some subjects are entitled to have an attorney general: these include a Queen consort and the Prince of Wales, who has an Attorney General for the Duchy of Cornwall. There is also an Attorney General for the Duchy of Lancaster which is owned by the monarch.
Defunct offices
Before the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922, the legal advisers to the Crown in the Courts of Ireland were the Attorney-General for Ireland and the Solicitor-General for Ireland. These offices became vacant in 1921.
The Crown also had a legal adviser for the High Court of Admiralty, known as the Admiralty Advocate, but this office lapsed in 1875 when the Admiralty Court became part of the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division of the High Court of Justice.
The Crown's representative in the ecclesiastical courts was the King's Advocate (or Queen's Advocate when the monarch was female). This office has been vacant since the resignation of its last holder in 1872[1].
See also
References
- ^ Haydn's Book of Dignities, 1894