The Attorney General is described in Article 30 of the Constitution as "the adviser of the Government in matters of law and legal opinion". The functions, powers and duties of the Attorney General are to be found in the Constitution, in legislation (primarily section 6 of the Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924), in Constitutional convention and in judicial decisions delivered both prior to and subsequent to the founding of the State.
Advisory Counsel work for the Attorney General, who is involved in a wide field of activities.
The Attorney General is legal adviser to the Government and attends Government meetings. The Attorney advises the Government on the constitutional and legal issues which arise prior to or at Government meetings, including whether proposed legislation complies with the provisions of the Constitution, acts and treaties of the European Union or other international treaties to which Ireland has acceded. The Attorney General also advises as to whether the State can ratify international treaties and conventions. The Attorney General represents the State in all legal proceedings involving the State.
The Attorney General is legal adviser to each Government Department and certain public bodies. The Attorney General is representative of the public in all legal proceedings for the enforcement of law and the assertion or protection of public rights. The Attorney General defends the constitutionality of Bills referred to the Supreme Court under Article 26 of the Constitution. The Attorney General retains certain prosecution functions; for example, under the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 1978. The Attorney General has a function in deciding whether warrants under the Extradition Acts 1965 to 2001 should be endorsed or not and to advise in extradition cases.
The Office of the Parliamentary Counsel and the Chief State Solicitor's Office are both constituent parts of the Attorney General's Office. Accordingly, the four principal legal functions carried out by the Office as a whole are the provision of legal advice (Advisory Counsel), legislative drafting (Parliamentary Counsel), the provision of litigation, conveyancing and other transactional services (Chief State Solicitor's Office) and Statute Law Revision and Consolidation (Statute Law Revision Unit).
The Attorney General also has functions in respect of the Law Reform Commission under the Law Reform Commission Act 1975, in respect of legislative programming as a member of the Legislation Committee which is chaired by the Government Chief Whip and under the Attorney General's Scheme which is a non-statutory Scheme under which the Attorney General funds certain legal proceedings not covered by legal aid.
The Director General of the Office of the Attorney General, who is also the most senior Advisory Counsel, is the head of the Office of the Attorney General as a whole within the meaning of the Public Service Management Act 1997 and has responsibility for the management of the Office.
The Advisory side of the Attorney General's Office comprises of lawyers who specialise in specific areas of law. There are three grades of Advisory Counsel Grade I (Assistant Secretary), Grade II (Principal Officer) and Grade III (Assistant Principal Officer). The Director General and the Deputy Director General of the Office are also Advisory Counsel.
The principal duty of the Advisory Counsel in the Office is to assist the Attorney General in performing his functions, powers and duties. The range of subjects covered is broad, but the activities themselves fall broadly into three categories:
(1) the provision of advice, (2) the direction of litigation and (3) involvement in the provision of a drafting service to Government Departments.
Advisory Counsel work closely with lawyers in both the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel in relation to advising on legal issues in the drafting of legislation and the Chief State Solicitor's Office in relation to advising on the conduct of litigation and other legal advice.
The range of advisory work normally undertaken by the Office is very broad, including constitutional and administrative law, commercial law, public international law and criminal law - in fact, any legal issue on which the Government or a Department may require legal advice. Advice frequently has to be provided, and is provided, under extreme pressure of time. Requests for advice may be received from the Government as a whole, from Ministers, or from civil servants in Government Departments or Offices. Requests from Government or Ministers are usually made directly to the Attorney General. An Advisory Counsel is usually assigned to assist the Attorney in dealing with such a request. Most requests for advice, however, come from civil servants in Departments or Offices. Such requests either come directly to the Office, or via the Chief State Solicitor's Office.
Currently, the Advisory side of the Attorney General's Office is divided into five functional groups each co-ordinated by an Advisory Counsel I (Assistant Secretary). Increasing specialisation of law has made it appropriate that the lawyers specialise to a significant degree. This is in accordance with the Office's Statement of Strategy which has as a key objective "to develop the provision of specialist legal services in all areas of law of major importance to Government, Departments and Offices"... Currently, an Advisory Counsel is assigned on secondment as Legal Attaché to the Permanent Representative in Brussels.
Group A has responsibility in the areas of Garda, criminal law, prisons, AG's criminal law functions, legal aid, Law Reform Commission, Statute Law Reform Bills, Criminal Assets, interception of telecoms & postal packages including MLA aspects, international co-operation in criminal matters, EU criminal justice measures - Title IV, Road Traffic Acts, licensing, Good Friday Agreement, electoral law, health and safety and censorship. Any individual Tribunal, Committee of Investigation, Oireachtas Committee dealing with the group's subject matter. The group is comprised of the Group Co-ordinator and 6 other Advisory Counsel.
Group B has responsibility in the areas of private international law, casual and occasional trading, statistics, Statutory Instruments, personal injury, tobacco, health, blood, childhood abuse, abortion, adoption, assisted human reproduction, education, family law, Civil Legal Aid, Solicitors/Barristers, Prosecution of Offences Act 1974, health and safety, environmental law, agriculture and aquaculture, foreshore, fisheries, nuclear, Planning Acts. Any individual Tribunal, Committee of Investigation, Oireachtas Committee dealing with the group's subject matter. The group is comprised of the Group Co-ordinator and 6 other Advisory Counsel.
Group C has responsibility in the areas of asylum, immigration and citizenship. Any individual Tribunal, Committee of Investigation, Oireachtas Committee dealing with the group's subject matter.The group is comprised of the Group Co-ordinator and 1 other Advisory Counsel.
Group D has responsibility in the areas of international trade law, telecommunications, national infrastructure/NDP/PPPs, Revenue, appropriation and public expenditure, financial services, insurance, company law, bankruptcy/insolvency/liquidation, mergers and monoplies, Gaeltacht, defence, metrology, mining and quarrying, petroleum, seabed exploration and continental shelf, E-Commerce, Semi-State bodies, other State authorities, State Property Act, property, relator actions, probate, succession, charities and escheated estates, land registration, landlord and tenant, civil justice, coroners, Irish language, cultural issues, State aids and grants and Competiton law. Any individual Tribunal, Committee of Investigation, Oireachtas Committee dealing with the group's subject matter. The group is comprised of the Group Co-ordinator and 6 other Advisory Counsel.
Group E has responsibility in the areas of intellectual property, public international law, Official Secrets Act, Data Protection Act, freedom of information, Government contracts and public procurement, arbitration, social welfare law, public service, Oireachtas, Ministers and Secretaries, pay, allowances and pension of Ministers, ethics, labour law, tourism, consumer protection, electricity, gas, postal law, road haulage, buses and taxis, rail transport, air transport, law of sea, shipping law, harbours, Irish Coastguard service, Commissioners of Irish Lights and marinas. Any individual Tribunal, Committee of Investigation, Oireachtas Committee dealing with the group's subject matter. The group is comprised of the Group Co-ordinator and 7 other Advisory Counsel.
The Deputy Director General has responsibility in the areas of defamation/privacy legislation, Tribunals and Commissions of Inquiry, Morris Tribunal, tribunal costs, institutional EU issues, EC judicial system and horizontal EU issues, Brussels specific work, horizontal human rights issues (DG), fisheries prosecutions (DG).
The Legal Attaché to the Permanent Representation to the European Union in Brussels has responsibility in the areas of institutional EU issues, Brussels specific work, EC judicial system and horizontal EU issues.
The Office of the Attorney General (including the Chief State Solicitor's Office) is responsible for handling virtually all civil litigation engaged in by the State. Usually the State is the defendant; rarely is it the plaintiff. This involves actions in all Courts in the State, in the Court of Justice of the European Communities and the Court of First Instance in Luxembourg, and before the Commission and Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. (In the latter case the Department of Foreign Affairs, not the Chief State Solicitor, acts as agent). The precise involvement of Advisory Counsel and the Attorney General himself is determined by the difficulty and importance of the case. The mechanism of this involvement is that the solicitor handling the case seeks directions from the Attorney General or his staff. Generally the Attorney General's Office is not involved in criminal matters which instead are dealt with by the Director of Public Prosecutions. To this there are some exceptions, notably arising from the Attorney General's role as prosecutor in fisheries cases and his role in dealing with applications to extradite persons from Ireland to other jurisdictions.
The drafting of legislation in the Office of the Attorney General is undertaken by specialist Parliamentary Counsel, with Advisory Counsel having an important but essentially auxiliary role in the drafting process. The role of the Advisory Counsel is primarily to provide advice on the proposed legislative action, for example, on whether it might conflict with the provisions of the Constitution, acts and treaties, of the European Union or other international treaties to which the State has acceded.