Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2025 to Question 30971 on Armed Forces: Civil Proceedings, whether the Attorney General’s list of conflicts included legacy-related matters under the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has an established and rigorous process for identifying and dealing with conflicts, and potential conflicts, that arise from the Law Officers’ past practice. That process sits against the backdrop of every lawyer’s professional obligation to be alert to, and actively manage, any situation that might give rise to a potential or actual conflict.
This rigorous process for identifying and managing conflicts sits alongside the system relating to ministerial interests, overseen by the Prime Minister’s Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards. Both the Director General of the AGO and the Independent Adviser were provided with the Attorney General’s list of conflicts following his appointment.
If a Law Officer were to publicly confirm specific matters where they were conflicted, this would infer that legal advice had been requested by the Government on a specific matter, which would risk a breach of the Law Officers’ Convention.
In addition, a lawyer cannot breach a client’s confidentiality in relation to advisory work that had previously not been made public so this would limit the ability of a Law Officer to publish in full their previous caseload and conflicts schedule. In that regard, the Attorney General has been through the same process as previous Law Officers, none of whom have gone as far to proactively disclose their specific conflicts of interest for the reasons set out above.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, whether the Attorney General has recused himself from providing legal advice on matters relating to historical allegations against armed forces personnel.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
By long-standing convention, the fact that the Attorney General may or may not have advised, and the content of his advice, is not disclosed outside government, as is reflected in the Ministerial Code.
As I set out to the House on 23 January and 6 February, the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has an established and rigorous process for identifying and dealing with conflicts, and potential conflicts, that arise from the Law Officers’ past practice. That process predates the appointment of the Attorney General and sits against the backdrop of every lawyer’s professional obligation to be alert to, and actively manage, any situation that might give rise to a potential or actual conflict.
This rigorous process for identifying and managing conflicts sits alongside the system relating to ministerial interests, overseen by the Prime Minister’s Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards. Both the Director General of the AGO and the Independent Adviser were provided with the Attorney General’s list of conflicts following his appointment.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what steps she is taking to ensure the impartiality of her Department's legal advice on compensation claims against British soldiers.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Impartiality of legal advice is vitally important for all government lawyers. The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has an established and rigorous process for identifying and dealing with conflicts, and potential conflicts, that arise from the Law Officers’ past practice. That process predates the appointment of the Attorney General and sits against the backdrop of every lawyer’s professional obligation to be alert to, and actively manage, any situation that might give rise to a potential or actual conflict, in order to ensure impartiality.
Asked by: Mark Francois (Conservative - Rayleigh and Wickford)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, how much has been spent on external legal advice on international law since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has spent £0 on external legal advice that covers international law matters commissioned from 5th July 2024.
However, the AGO has spent £7,028.40 for external legal advice covering international law matters that was sought and received by the previous administration prior to 5th July 2024.