Reform of the Office of Attorney General: 7th Report of Session 2007-08 - Report with Evidence

This report follows the Government’s July 2007 publication The Governance of Britain: A Consultation on the Role of the Attorney General (Cm. 7192) (ISBN 9780101719223) and the House of Commons Constitutional Affairs Committee report, Constitutional Role of the Attorney General (HC 306) (ISBN 9780215035462), both available below.The Committee took evidence from Baroness Scotland of Asthal, the present Attorney General, and commissioned written evidence (included as appendices to the report) from two constitutional academics with divergent views on the subject. The current debate about reforming the role stems from three major controversies in the last five years: advice on the legality of the Iraq invasion; BAE Systems and the decision to drop a Serious Fraud Office investigation; and, cash for honours.The report examines the role of the Attorney General as provider and co-ordinator of legal advice (and senior legal advisor to the Crown). It also examines the role of Attorney General in individual prosecutions and its functions as a minister. The Committee lays out the main arguments for and against reforming the role in these three principal areas, hoping that the report will prove useful as a ‘handbook’ to the continuing debate on the role of the Attorney General.