CHIEF STATE SOLICITOR'S OFFICE

About the Chief State Solicitor's Office

The Chief State Solicitor's Office (CSSO) is headed by the Chief State Solicitor, Maria Browne. The CSSO has over 350 staff who work in legal and administrative roles in the Office's six Divisions: Administrative Law, Commercial & Employment Law, Constitutional & State Litigation, Justice, State Property and Corporate Services. The CSSO's offices are located at Ship Street and Chancery Lane, Dublin 8.

The mission of the CSSO is to provide the highest standard of professional legal services to Government departments and offices, as economically and efficiently as possible.

The Chief State Solicitor's Office was formally established under the Ministers & Secretaries Act 1924 and is a constituent part of the Office of the Attorney General.

Role & Functions of the CSSO

The CSSO is the principal provider of solicitor services to the Attorney General and Government. A full solicitor advisory, litigation and transactional legal service is provided across a broad range of areas including:

• Constitutional, civil and commercial litigation concerning Government departments, offices and An Garda Síochána
• Judicial review (both general and immigration and asylum-related)
• Environmental and planning law
• Representing the State before the Court of Justice, General Court and European Free Trade Association Court
• Extradition, European Arrest Warrant and Mutual Assistance litigation
• Employment law
• Inquests and Ministerial Prosecutions
• Recovery of fraudulent or criminally acquired monies
• Tortious claims
• Habeas corpus applications
• Representing clients in conciliations and arbitrations and before Tribunals of Inquiry and Commissions of Investigation
• Transactional conveyancing service for Government departments and the OPW
• Commercial leasing and licensing and landlord and tenant matters
• Security over property to protect State capital investments
• Devolution of real and personal property to the State under the State Property Act 1954 and the Succession Act 1965
• Public procurement law
• Commercial Law (including competition law, State Aid, data protection, company law, ICT law and energy law)