Select Committee on Constitutional Affairs Written Evidence


Second Further evidence submitted by the Rt Hon Lord Goldsmith QC, Attorney General

FUNCTIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

  (*  indicates functions which are wholly or partly statutory)

  1.  *Superintendence of and Parliamentary accountability for:

    —  Crown Prosecution Service.

    —  Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate.

    —  Serious Fraud Office.

    —  Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office.

  2.  *Requirement for Attorney General's consent to certain prosecutions.

  3.  *Power to refer unduly lenient sentences to the Court of Appeal.

  4.  *Power to refer points of law in criminal cases to the Court of Appeal.

  5.  *Power to bring (or consent to) proceedings for contempt of court.

  6.  Power to terminate criminal proceedings on indictment by issuing a nolle prosequi.

  7.  Superintendence of and Parliamentary accountability for the Army, Navy and Air Force Prosecuting Authorities.

  8.  General oversight of the other central prosecuting authorities (e.g. DTI, HSE, DWP, DEFRA).

  9.  Criminal justice policy Minister (with Home Secretary and Lord Chancellor).

  10.  Legal adviser to the Sovereign (as Her Majesty's Attorney General).

  11.  Legal advice to the Crown on peerage cases.

  12.  Approval of Royal Charters.

  13.  Chief legal adviser to the Government.

  14.  Advice to Ministers involved in legal proceedings in their official capacity.

  15.  Consultation with Ministers in legal proceedings in their personal capacity (in circumstances defined in the Ministerial Code).

  16.  Advice to Parliament on certain issues, including the conduct and discipline of Members, matters of privilege and procedure, and the meaning and effect of proposed legislation.

  17.  Receipt of committee papers and advice to the Committee on Standards and Privileges (Solicitor General when AG in Lords).

  18.  Intervention in legal proceedings to assert the rights of the Parliament.

  19.  Responsibility and Parliamentary accountability for the Attorney General's Office.

  20.  Responsibility and Parliamentary accountability for the Treasury Solicitor's Department.

  21.  Ministerial oversight of the Government Legal Service.

  22.  Leader of the Bar ex officio.

  23.  Advocate for the Crown in important court cases.

  24.  Appointment of counsel (including Treasury Counsel) to represent the Crown in criminal and civil proceedings.

  25.  Appointment of advocates to the court (independent counsel appointed to assist the court—formerly called "amicus curiae").

  26.   *Appointment of special advocates (counsel appointed to represent the interests of individuals in certain cases, eg immigration appeals, involving sensitive material which cannot be disclosed in the ordinary way).

  27.  *Nominal claimant and defendant in civil litigation where there is no appropriate Government department (under Crown Proceedings Act 1947).

  28.  *Power to bring proceedings to restrain vexatious litigants.

  29.  *Power to represent the interests of charities in certain proceedings.

  30.  Power to give directions under the Royal Sign Manual for the disposal of charitable gifts under Wills.

  31.  *Power to take part in, or instruct the Queen's Proctor to intervene in, certain family law proceedings relating to marriage.

  32.  *Power to make or consent to application for an order requiring a new inquest.

  33.  Power to bring or intervene in legal proceedings in the public interest (eg to seek injunctions restraining publication of sensitive material where this is contrary to the public interest).

  34.  Power to consent to relator actions (civil proceedings brought to enforce a public law right).

  35.  *Power to bring certain devolution proceedings under the Scotland Act and Government of Wales Act.

  36.  Taking decisions under the Freedom of Information Act in relation to papers of a previous administration.

  37.  *Attorney General for Northern Ireland.

  38.  *Appointment and superintendence of, and Parliamentary responsibility for, the DPP for Northern Ireland.

  39.  *Appointment of and Parliamentary accountability for the Crown Solicitor, Northern Ireland.

  40.  *Power to certify cases for trial by jury in Northern Ireland.

  41.  *Provision of guidance on human rights to criminal justice agencies in Northern Ireland.

February 2007



 
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Prepared 26 July 2007