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Home > About the GLS > GLS Departments > Attorney General’s Office Attorney General’s Office The Attorney General and the Solicitor General (with the Advocate General for Scotland) are known as the Law Officers. They are Ministers of the Crown and sit in one or other House of Parliament. The functions of the Law Officers fall into the following main categories. (1) The Law Officers are the chief legal advisers to government. In that capacity they are consulted on the most sensitive or difficult legal issues facing the government, including issues of international and EU law. They deal with questions of law arising on government Bills and with issues of legal policy. They also have oversight of major international and domestic litigation involving the Government. The Attorney General has Ministerial responsibility for the Treasury Solicitor’s Department (TSol) and oversight of the wider Government Legal Service. (2) The Attorney General has statutory responsibility for superintending the main prosecuting authorities in England and Wales – the Crown Prosecution Service (headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions), the Serious Fraud Office and the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office. The Attorney also exercises non-statutory oversight of the Service Prosecuting Authority and prosecutors in other government departments, such as BERR and DWP. In addition the Attorney General has Ministerial responsibility for HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate. (3) The Attorney General has, with the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for Justice, joint responsibility for criminal justice policy. This role in particular reflects the Attorney’s responsibility for the prosecuting authorities and their key place in the criminal justice system. (4) The Law Officers have a number of common law and statutory responsibilities which they discharge independently of government as “guardians of the public interest”. These include referring unduly lenient sentences to the Court of Appeal; applying for orders under the Supreme Court Act 1981 to declare persons vexatious litigants; intervening in certain proceedings to protect the interests of charities; and bringing proceedings for contempt of court. (5) The Attorney General also currently holds the separate office of Attorney General for Northern Ireland. In that capacity the Attorney superintends the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland and exercises similar legal and public interest functions to those described above. The role of the Law Officers has recently been the subject of review and public consultation. Changes to the role are proposed in the White Paper The Governance of Britain, published in March 2008 (Cm 7342). Work of the Legal Team The Attorney General and Solicitor General are supported in all their functions by a small department, the Attorney General’s Office (AGO). AGO is headed by the Director General and comprises teams of civil and criminal lawyers (about 15 in all), as well as a policy team and various support functions. AGO lawyers provide legal advice and support to the Law Officers in connection with their legal, prosecutorial and public interest functions, including casework. In that capacity they handle some of the most difficult and sensitive legal issues affecting the government. The lawyers also work closely with policy officials to support the Law Officers in their criminal justice and other work. They maintain close liaison with lawyers elsewhere in the GLS and in the prosecuting authorities. Recruitment Most AGO staff are on loan for varying periods of time from other Government Departments, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. For this reason AGO does not directly recruit lawyers. Further Information Please visit the Attorney General’s Office’s
website http://www.attorneygeneral.gov.uk/ |
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