fbpx
Wikipedia

Government Legal Department

May 09, 2024

The Government Legal Department (previously called the Treasury Solicitor's Department) is the largest in-house legal organisation in the United Kingdom's Government Legal Profession.

Government Legal Department
Welsh: Adran Gyfreithiwr y Trysorlys
Non-ministerial government department overview
Formed1876 (1876)
JurisdictionUnited Kingdom
Headquarters102 Petty France, London, SW1H 9GL
Employees2,000+
Annual budget£114.7 million (2009-2010) [1]
Ministers responsible
Non-ministerial government department executive
Websitegov.uk/gld
Treasury Solicitor Act 1876
Act of Parliament
Long titleAn Act to incorporate the Solicitor for the affairs of Her Majesty's Treasury, and make further provision respecting the grant of administration of the Estates of deceased persons for the use of Her Majesty.
Citation39 & 40 Vict. c. 18
Dates
Royal assent27 June 1876
Text of statute as originally enacted

The department is headed by the Treasury Solicitor (formally, 'The Solicitor for the affairs of His Majesty's Treasury'). This office goes back several centuries. The office was enshrined in law by the Treasury Solicitor Act 1876 (39 & 40 Vict. c. 18), which established the Treasury Solicitor as a corporation sole (an office with perpetual succession).[3] Employees of the department exercise legal powers which are vested in the corporation sole.

The department is a non-ministerial government department and executive agency.[4] The Treasury Solicitor reports to the Attorney General for England and Wales. The department employs more than 1,900 solicitors and barristers to provide advice and legal representation on a huge range of issues to many government departments.

History edit

The department was historically known as the Treasury Solicitor's Department, but changed name to the Government Legal Department on 1 April 2015. The new name reflects a "significant period of change", which saw the department double in size to 2,000 staff.[5]

The head of the department combines the ancient office of King's Proctor with that of Treasury Solicitor. She has the formal title of His Majesty's Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor. The office is currently held by Susanna McGibbon[6] who succeeded Sir Jonathan Jones after his resignation on 8 September 2020.[7] She is also the Chief Executive of the department as an executive agency.

Functions edit

Government Legal Department lawyers work in both advisory and litigation roles. In litigation, lawyers bring and defend legal proceedings involving central government and related bodies. In advisory teams, lawyers provide advice to ministers and civil servants on both the current law and on proposed Government policies and future legislation.

The department is the authorised address for service of proceedings on most government departments, by virtue of the list published under the Crown Proceedings Act 1947.

In England (with the exception of Lancashire, Manchester and Cornwall, where the function is delegated to Farrer & Co), the Treasury Solicitor is the Crown's nominee for the collection and disposition of ownerless property (bona vacantia).[8] This typically comprises the assets of dissolved companies and the estates of persons who die intestate and with no known kin.

List of HM Procurators-General and Treasury Solicitors edit

King's Proctor/Procurators General edit

The office of King's (or Queen's) Proctor is ancient; it also came to be known as HM Procurator General.[9] The following were King's or Queen's Proctor after 1660:[10]

  • 1660–1669: Alexander Cheeke
  • 1669–1700: Samuel Franklyn
  • 1700–1710: Thomas Smith
  • 1710–1714: George Smith
  • 1714–1727: Henry Farrant
  • 1727–1750: Edward Greenly
  • 1750–1766: Thomas Tindal
  • 1766–1783: Philip Champion de Crespigny
  • 1783–1804: James Heseltine[11][9]
  • 1804–1815: Charles Bishop[12][13]
  • 1815–1844: Iltid Nicholl[13][14]
  • 1845–1876: Francis Hart Dyke[14][15]

Treasury Solicitor edit

Historically, there were two solicitors in the Treasury. The first (The Solicitor for Negotiating and Looking after the Affairs of the Treasury), which existed alone until 1696, had become a sinecure by 1744, and perhaps as early as 1716; from the late 18th century the office included a salary of £200 a year. It was abolished in 1800. A second Treasury Solicitor, the precursor of the modern office, was established in 1696 and was assigned all the legal business undertaken in Westminster Hall; as the first Solicitor became a sinecure, the second Solicitor became the only one responsible for legal business. By 1786, its office-holder was carrying out legal work for other secretaries of state and the Attorney-General, and in the early nineteenth century was employed by other government departments as well. From 1794, the Solicitor was also barred from running their own private practice. The salary began at £500, increased to £1,000 in 1755 and then to £2,000 in 1794; until the 1830s, the Solicitor also charged fees for work done in departments outside the Treasury, but these were then abolished and he received an allowance of £850 in addition to his salary. The whole salary was fixed at £2,000 in 1851, and then increased to £2,500 in 1872.[16] The following were Treasury Solicitors after 1660.[16]

Treasury Solicitor (I; a sinecure by 1744 and abolished in 1800) edit

  • By 1661: John Rushworth
  • By 1673: Sir William Turner
  • 1676–1679: John Ramsey
  • 1679–1685: Thomas Lloyd
  • 1685–1689: Philip Burton
  • 1689–1696: Aaron Smith
  • 1696–1716: Henry Baker[17]
  • 1716–1728: Philip Horneck
  • 1728–1729: Edward Roome
  • 1729–1737: Charles Valence Jones
  • 1737–1744: Charlton Hayward
  • 1744–1800: Hugh Valence Jones

Treasury Solicitor (II; from 1696) edit

Procurators General and Treasury Solicitor edit

In 1876, Augustus Keppel Stephenson, the Treasury Solicitor, was appointed Queen's Proctor and Procurator General; since then, the offices of Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor have been held together.[21] By 1971, the office came with a salary of £14,000 a year.[22] The following have been jointly HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor:[23]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ (PDF), HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor, 30 June 2010, archived from the original (PDF) on 26 July 2011, retrieved 19 December 2010
  2. ^ "Susanna McGibbon appointed as Treasury Solicitor, HM Procurator General and Permanent Secretary, Government Legal Department" (Press release). GOV.UK. February 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  3. ^ . Treasury Solicitor's Department. 2013. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  4. ^ "Treasury Solicitor's Department". GOV.UK. 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  5. ^ "Treasury Solicitor's Department announces name change". Website of the Government of the United Kingdom. gov.uk. 18 February 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  6. ^ name="McGibbon appointment"
  7. ^ Elgot, Jessica; Syal, Rajeev (8 September 2020). "UK's top legal civil servant quits 'over Brexit deal changes'". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  8. ^ . Treasury Solicitor's Department. 2013. Archived from the original on 8 September 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  9. ^ a b "HM Procurator General: Report Books, Series I", The National Archives. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  10. ^ J. C. Sainty, "King's Proctor, 1660–1876" (Institute of Historical Research, February 2003). Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  11. ^ The London Gazette, 17 May 1783 (issue 12441), p. 1.
  12. ^ The London Gazette, 24 July 1804 (issue 15722), p. 900.
  13. ^ a b The London Gazette, 28 November 1815 (issue 17085), p. 2377.
  14. ^ a b The London Gazette, 28 January 1845 (issue 20436), p. 247.
  15. ^ a b The London Gazette, 4 August 1876 (issue 24351), p. 4374.
  16. ^ a b "Solicitors and Assistant-Solicitors, 1660–1870", in J. C. Sainty, Office-Holders in Modern Britain, vol. 1 (University of London, 1972), pp. 97–98.
  17. ^ According to another source, he was appointed jointly with one "Mr. East" (The Nineteenth Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records (London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1856) p. 14), but Sainty says that this appointment, along with the proposed appointment of one Mr. Collyer in 1711, "never became effective" (Sainty, Office-Holders of Modern Britain, i, 97–98, fn. 18.
  18. ^ J. Venn and J. A. Venn, Alumni Cantabrigienses, vol. 2, part 2 (Cambridge University Press, 1947) pp. 138–139.
  19. ^ The Solicitors' Journal and Reporter, vol. 15 (1871), p. 386.
  20. ^ "Gray, John (1807–1875)", Dictionary of National Biography, vol. 23 (Macmillan and Co., 1890), p. 8.
  21. ^ a b Wendie Ellen Schneider, Engines of Truth: Producing Veracity in the Victorian Courtroom (Yale University Press, 2015), pp. 157–158.
  22. ^ "‘Watchdog’ on divorces to retire", The Daily Telegraph, 24 June 1971, p. 2.
  23. ^ Roger Mortimore and Andrew Blick (eds.), Butler's British Political Facts (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018), p. 533.
  24. ^ London Gazette, 26 October 1894 (issue 26564), p. 6005.

External links edit

  •   Media related to Government Legal Department at Wikimedia Commons
  • Government Legal Department
  • Bona Vacantia

May 09, 2024
government, legal, department, previously, called, treasury, solicitor, department, largest, house, legal, organisation, united, kingdom, government, legal, profession, welsh, adran, gyfreithiwr, trysorlysnon, ministerial, government, department, overviewforme. The Government Legal Department previously called the Treasury Solicitor s Department is the largest in house legal organisation in the United Kingdom s Government Legal Profession Government Legal DepartmentWelsh Adran Gyfreithiwr y TrysorlysNon ministerial government department overviewFormed1876 1876 JurisdictionUnited KingdomHeadquarters102 Petty France London SW1H 9GLEmployees2 000 Annual budget 114 7 million 2009 2010 1 Ministers responsibleVictoria Prentis Attorney GeneralRobert Courts Solicitor GeneralNon ministerial government department executiveSusanna McGibbon HM Procurator General Treasury Solicitor and Chief Executive 2 Websitegov wbr uk wbr gld Treasury Solicitor Act 1876Act of ParliamentParliament of the United KingdomLong titleAn Act to incorporate the Solicitor for the affairs of Her Majesty s Treasury and make further provision respecting the grant of administration of the Estates of deceased persons for the use of Her Majesty Citation39 amp 40 Vict c 18DatesRoyal assent27 June 1876Text of statute as originally enacted The department is headed by the Treasury Solicitor formally The Solicitor for the affairs of His Majesty s Treasury This office goes back several centuries The office was enshrined in law by the Treasury Solicitor Act 1876 39 amp 40 Vict c 18 which established the Treasury Solicitor as a corporation sole an office with perpetual succession 3 Employees of the department exercise legal powers which are vested in the corporation sole The department is a non ministerial government department and executive agency 4 The Treasury Solicitor reports to the Attorney General for England and Wales The department employs more than 1 900 solicitors and barristers to provide advice and legal representation on a huge range of issues to many government departments Contents 1 History 2 Functions 3 List of HM Procurators General and Treasury Solicitors 3 1 King s Proctor Procurators General 3 2 Treasury Solicitor 3 2 1 Treasury Solicitor I a sinecure by 1744 and abolished in 1800 3 2 2 Treasury Solicitor II from 1696 3 3 Procurators General and Treasury Solicitor 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksHistory editThe department was historically known as the Treasury Solicitor s Department but changed name to the Government Legal Department on 1 April 2015 The new name reflects a significant period of change which saw the department double in size to 2 000 staff 5 The head of the department combines the ancient office of King s Proctor with that of Treasury Solicitor She has the formal title of His Majesty s Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor The office is currently held by Susanna McGibbon 6 who succeeded Sir Jonathan Jones after his resignation on 8 September 2020 7 She is also the Chief Executive of the department as an executive agency Functions editGovernment Legal Department lawyers work in both advisory and litigation roles In litigation lawyers bring and defend legal proceedings involving central government and related bodies In advisory teams lawyers provide advice to ministers and civil servants on both the current law and on proposed Government policies and future legislation The department is the authorised address for service of proceedings on most government departments by virtue of the list published under the Crown Proceedings Act 1947 In England with the exception of Lancashire Manchester and Cornwall where the function is delegated to Farrer amp Co the Treasury Solicitor is the Crown s nominee for the collection and disposition of ownerless property bona vacantia 8 This typically comprises the assets of dissolved companies and the estates of persons who die intestate and with no known kin List of HM Procurators General and Treasury Solicitors editKing s Proctor Procurators General edit The office of King s or Queen s Proctor is ancient it also came to be known as HM Procurator General 9 The following were King s or Queen s Proctor after 1660 10 1660 1669 Alexander Cheeke 1669 1700 Samuel Franklyn 1700 1710 Thomas Smith 1710 1714 George Smith 1714 1727 Henry Farrant 1727 1750 Edward Greenly 1750 1766 Thomas Tindal 1766 1783 Philip Champion de Crespigny 1783 1804 James Heseltine 11 9 1804 1815 Charles Bishop 12 13 1815 1844 Iltid Nicholl 13 14 1845 1876 Francis Hart Dyke 14 15 Treasury Solicitor edit Historically there were two solicitors in the Treasury The first The Solicitor for Negotiating and Looking after the Affairs of the Treasury which existed alone until 1696 had become a sinecure by 1744 and perhaps as early as 1716 from the late 18th century the office included a salary of 200 a year It was abolished in 1800 A second Treasury Solicitor the precursor of the modern office was established in 1696 and was assigned all the legal business undertaken in Westminster Hall as the first Solicitor became a sinecure the second Solicitor became the only one responsible for legal business By 1786 its office holder was carrying out legal work for other secretaries of state and the Attorney General and in the early nineteenth century was employed by other government departments as well From 1794 the Solicitor was also barred from running their own private practice The salary began at 500 increased to 1 000 in 1755 and then to 2 000 in 1794 until the 1830s the Solicitor also charged fees for work done in departments outside the Treasury but these were then abolished and he received an allowance of 850 in addition to his salary The whole salary was fixed at 2 000 in 1851 and then increased to 2 500 in 1872 16 The following were Treasury Solicitors after 1660 16 Treasury Solicitor I a sinecure by 1744 and abolished in 1800 edit By 1661 John Rushworth By 1673 Sir William Turner 1676 1679 John Ramsey 1679 1685 Thomas Lloyd 1685 1689 Philip Burton 1689 1696 Aaron Smith 1696 1716 Henry Baker 17 1716 1728 Philip Horneck 1728 1729 Edward Roome 1729 1737 Charles Valence Jones 1737 1744 Charlton Hayward 1744 1800 Hugh Valence Jones Treasury Solicitor II from 1696 edit 1696 1700 Nicholas Baker 1700 1715 William Borrett 1715 1730 Anthony Cracherode 1730 1742 Nicholas Paxton 1742 1756 John Sharpe 1756 1765 Philip Carteret Webb 1765 1775 Thomas Nuthall 1775 1794 William Chamberlayne 1794 1806 Joseph White 1806 1818 Henry Charles Litchfield 1818 1851 George Maule 1851 1866 Henry Revell Reynolds 1866 1871 John Greenwood 18 1871 1875 John Gray 19 20 1875 1894 Augustus Keppel Stephenson 21 Procurators General and Treasury Solicitor edit In 1876 Augustus Keppel Stephenson the Treasury Solicitor was appointed Queen s Proctor and Procurator General since then the offices of Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor have been held together 21 By 1971 the office came with a salary of 14 000 a year 22 The following have been jointly HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor 23 1876 1894 Sir Augustus Keppel Stephenson KCB 15 24 1894 1909 Hamilton Cuffe 5th Earl of Desart KP KCB PC 1909 1923 Sir John Paget Mellor 1st Baronet KCB 1923 1926 Hon Alfred Clive Lawrence CBE 1926 1933 Sir Maurice Linford Gwyer GCB KCB KCSI QC 1934 1953 Sir Thomas James Barnes GCB Kt CBE 1953 1964 Sir Harold Simcox Kent GCB QC 1964 1971 Sir William Arthur Harvey Druitt KCB 1971 1975 Sir Henry Gabriel Ware KCB 1975 1980 Sir Basil Brodribb Hall KCB MC TD 1980 1984 Sir Michael James Kerry KCB QC 1984 1988 Sir John Bilsland Bailey KCB 1988 1992 Sir James Nursaw KCB QC 1992 1995 Sir Gerald Albery Hosker KCB QC 1995 1996 Michael Lawrence Saunders CB 1997 2000 Sir Anthony Hilgrove Hammond KCB QC Hon 2000 2006 Dame Juliet Louise Wheldon DCB QC 2006 2014 Sir Paul Christopher Jenkins KCB QC Hon 2014 2020 Sir Jonathan Guy Jones KCB QC Hon 2021 present Susanna McGibbonSee also editDepartments of the United Kingdom Government Treasury DevilReferences edit HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor Resource Accounts 2009 2010 PDF HM Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor 30 June 2010 archived from the original PDF on 26 July 2011 retrieved 19 December 2010 Susanna McGibbon appointed as Treasury Solicitor HM Procurator General and Permanent Secretary Government Legal Department Press release GOV UK February 2021 Retrieved 9 March 2021 Our history Treasury Solicitor s Department 2013 Archived from the original on 29 October 2013 Retrieved 17 September 2013 Treasury Solicitor s Department GOV UK 2013 Retrieved 17 September 2013 Treasury Solicitor s Department announces name change Website of the Government of the United Kingdom gov uk 18 February 2015 Retrieved 2 April 2015 name McGibbon appointment Elgot Jessica Syal Rajeev 8 September 2020 UK s top legal civil servant quits over Brexit deal changes The Guardian Retrieved 8 September 2020 About TSol Treasury Solicitor s Department 2013 Archived from the original on 8 September 2013 Retrieved 17 September 2013 a b HM Procurator General Report Books Series I The National Archives Retrieved 31 October 2018 J C Sainty King s Proctor 1660 1876 Institute of Historical Research February 2003 Retrieved 31 October 2018 The London Gazette 17 May 1783 issue 12441 p 1 The London Gazette 24 July 1804 issue 15722 p 900 a b The London Gazette 28 November 1815 issue 17085 p 2377 a b The London Gazette 28 January 1845 issue 20436 p 247 a b The London Gazette 4 August 1876 issue 24351 p 4374 a b Solicitors and Assistant Solicitors 1660 1870 in J C Sainty Office Holders in Modern Britain vol 1 University of London 1972 pp 97 98 According to another source he was appointed jointly with one Mr East The Nineteenth Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records London Eyre and Spottiswoode 1856 p 14 but Sainty says that this appointment along with the proposed appointment of one Mr Collyer in 1711 never became effective Sainty Office Holders of Modern Britain i 97 98 fn 18 J Venn and J A Venn Alumni Cantabrigienses vol 2 part 2 Cambridge University Press 1947 pp 138 139 The Solicitors Journal and Reporter vol 15 1871 p 386 Gray John 1807 1875 Dictionary of National Biography vol 23 Macmillan and Co 1890 p 8 a b Wendie Ellen Schneider Engines of Truth Producing Veracity in the Victorian Courtroom Yale University Press 2015 pp 157 158 Watchdog on divorces to retire The Daily Telegraph 24 June 1971 p 2 Roger Mortimore and Andrew Blick eds Butler s British Political Facts Palgrave Macmillan 2018 p 533 London Gazette 26 October 1894 issue 26564 p 6005 External links edit nbsp Media related to Government Legal Department at Wikimedia Commons Government Legal Department Bona Vacantia Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Government Legal Department amp oldid 1215255324, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.