Attorney General's Office (United Kingdom)

Attorney General's Office
Department overview


Formed	1315
Jurisdiction	United Kingdom, mainly England and Wales
Headquarters	20 Victoria Street, London, England
Annual budget	£600 million & no capital expenditure for Law Officers' Departments in 2017/18^[1]
Ministers responsible	Suella Braverman QC MP, Attorney General for England and Wales Michael Ellis QC MP, Solicitor General
Website	www.gov.uk/government/organisations/attorney-generals-office

Politics of the United Kingdom
This article is part of a series on

show Constitution Parliamentary sovereignty Rule of law Other constitutional principles
show The Crown The Monarch (List) Elizabeth II Heir Apparent Charles, Prince of Wales Royal family Succession Prerogative Counsellors of State
show Executive Privy Council Elizabeth II (Queen-in-Council) HM Government Prime Minister (List) Boris Johnson (C) First Secretary of State Dominic Raab (C) Cabinet (List) Departments Ministers Agencies
show Legislature UK Parliament Elizabeth II (Queen-in-Parliament) House of Lords Lord Speaker The Lord McFall of Alcluith House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle Leader of the Opposition Sir Keir Starmer (L) Act of Parliament 58th Parliament Opposition List of MPs
show Judiciary Elizabeth II (Queen-on-the-Bench) Supreme Court President The Lord Reed Deputy President The Lord Hodge Justices of the Supreme Court UK England and Wales Scotland NI
show Elections & Referendums UK Parliament Constituencies (2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies) Political parties Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 Scottish Parliament Constituencies and Electoral Regions Senedd Constituencies and Electoral Regions UK General Elections 1801 co-option 1802 1806 1807 1812 1818 1820 1826 1830 1831 1832–33 1835 1837 1841 1847 1852 1857 1859 1865 1868 1874 1880 1885 1886 1892 1895 1900 1906 1910 (Jan–Feb) 1910 (Dec) 1918 1922 1923 1924 1929 1931 1935 1945 1950 1951 1955 1959 1964 1966 1970 1974 (Feb) 1974 (Oct) 1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005 2010 2015 2017 2019 Next European Parliament Elections (1979–2019) 1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019 Scottish Parliament Elections 1999 2003 2007 2011 2016 2021 Northern Ireland Assembly Elections 1998 2003 2007 2011 2016 2017 Next Senedd Elections 1999 2003 2007 2011 2016 2021 UK Referendums 1975 2011 2016
show Devolution Joint Ministerial Committee Legislative consent motions England Governance of England English votes for English laws Greater London Authority 1998 Referendum Greater London Authority Act 1999 (2007 Act) Mayor of London Sadiq Khan Mayoral cabinet London Assembly London Plan Combined authorities Metro mayors Cornwall Council Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Act 1998 (2006 Act) First Minister Paul Givan deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill Executive Assembly Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly Law of Northern Ireland Scotland 1997 Referendum Scotland Act 1998 (2012 Act, 2016 Act) First Minister Nicola Sturgeon Government Scottish Parliament Act of the Scottish Parliament Scottish statutory instrument Scots law Wales 1997 Referendum (2011 Referendum on law-making powers) Government of Wales Act 1998 (2006 Act, Wales Act 2014, Wales Act 2017) First Minister Mark Drakeford Government Senedd Measure of the National Assembly for Wales (1999–2011) Act of Senedd Cymru Welsh law
show Administration England History Subdivisions: Regions Ceremonial counties (list) Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties Metropolitan county Non-metropolitan county Greater London Unitary authorities (list) Districts (list) Metropolitan Borough Non-metropolitan District London Borough Civil parishes (list) Historic counties Northern Ireland History Subdivisions: Counties Districts Scotland History Subdivisions: Sheriffdoms Council areas Community council areas Civil parishes Shires of Scotland Wales History Preserved counties Principal areas Communities (list) Historic counties
show Crown Dependencies Bailiwick of Guernsey ( Guernsey Alderney Sark) Bailiwick of Jersey Isle of Man British Islands Common Travel Area
show Overseas Territories Akrotiri and Dhekelia Anguilla Bermuda British Antarctic Territory British Indian Ocean Territory British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Falkland Islands Gibraltar Montserrat Pitcairn Islands Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha ( Saint Helena Ascension Island Tristan da Cunha) South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Turks and Caicos Islands British Overseas Territories citizen Visa requirements Visa policies British Overseas Territories Act 2002 Chagos Archipelago sovereignty dispute Gibraltar sovereignty dispute Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute
show Foreign relations Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Foreign policy (History) Diplomatic missions of / in the United Kingdom UK Passport British National (Overseas) Passport Visa requirements Visa policy Trade agreements Australia Belgium Canada China Hong Kong Cyprus France Germany India Kenya Malaysia Malta Netherlands New Zealand Russia Singapore Spain South Africa Pakistan Portugal United States Ireland Politics of Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement UK–Ireland border Brexit and the Irish border British–Irish Council European Union (History) Brexit Post-Brexit United Kingdom relations with the European Union UK–EU withdrawal agreement The Commonwealth Member states of the Commonwealth United Kingdom and the United Nations United Nations Security Council P5 NATO G20 G7
United Kingdom portal Other countries
v t

The Attorney General's Office (AGO) is a United Kingdom government department that supports the Attorney General and their deputy, the Solicitor General (together, the Law officers of the Crown in England and Wales). It is sometimes referred to as the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers.

The current Attorney-General is Suella Braverman QC MP, and the current Solicitor General is Michael Ellis QC MP.

Organisation[]

The AGO is one of the smallest UK government departments, with around 40 staff. It is one of "the Law Officers’ Departments" along with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI), the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and the Government Legal Department. The Treasury Solicitor acts as Accounting Officer for the AGO.

The AGO provides legal advice and support to the Law Officers who themselves provide legal advice to the government, and works with the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office to develop criminal justice policy.^[2]

Ministers[]

The Law Officers in England and Wales are as follows:^[3]

Minister	Rank	Portfolio
Suella Braverman QC MP	Attorney General Advocate General for Northern Ireland	Chief legal adviser to the Crown; the Crown Prosecution Service; the Serious Fraud Office; Her Majesty's Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate; the Government Legal Department Other responsibilities include: acting as principal legal adviser on questions of EU and international law, human rights and devolution issues; referring unduly lenient sentences to the Court of Appeal; bringing proceedings for contempt of court intervening in certain proceedings to protect charities; dealing with questions of law arising on government Bills; legal aspects of all major international and domestic litigation involving the government.
Michael Ellis QC MP	Solicitor General	deputising for the Attorney General and being responsible for such matters as the Attorney General delegates; providing support to the Attorney General in his superintendence of the Government Legal Department, the Crown Prosecution Service, the Service Prosecuting Authority, HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate and the Serious Fraud Office; providing support to the Attorney General on civil litigation and advice on civil law matters and on the public interest function.

References[]

^ Autumn Budget 2017 (PDF). London: HM Treasury. 22 November 2017. pp. 25–26. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
^ "Attorney General's Office - About us". Gov.uk. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
^ "Our ministers". GOV.UK. Retrieved 12 May 2015.

External links[]

Official website

show v t Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom
Ministerial	Attorney General's Office Cabinet Office Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Education Environment, Food and Rural Affairs International Trade Transport Work and Pensions Health and Social Care Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Treasury Home Defence Housing, Communities and Local Government Justice Northern Ireland Advocate General (Scotland) Commons Leader's Office Lords Leader's Office Scotland Office Wales Office UK Export Finance
Non-ministerial	Charity Commission for England and Wales Competition and Markets Authority Crown Prosecution Service Food Standards Agency Forestry Commission Government Actuary's Department Government Legal Department Land Registry Revenue and Customs National Crime Agency National Savings and Investments Ofsted Office of Gas and Electricity Markets Ofqual Office of Rail and Road Serious Fraud Office Supreme Court National Archives UK Statistics Authority Ofwat
Category Commons

Attorney General's Office (United Kingdom)

Contents

Organisation[]

Ministers[]

See also[]

References[]

External links[]