The Government Legal Department (previously called the Treasury Solicitor's Department) is the largest in-house legal organisation in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
's
Government Legal Service
The Government Legal Profession (GLP), formerly the Government Legal Service,corporation sole (an office with perpetual succession). Employees of the department exercise legal powers which are vested in the corporation sole.
The department is a
non-ministerial government department
Non-ministerial government departments (NMGDs) are a type of department of the United Kingdom government that deal with matters for which direct political oversight has been judged unnecessary or inappropriate. They are headed by senior civil s ...
Attorney General for England and Wales
His Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales is one of the law officers of the Crown and the principal legal adviser to sovereign and Government in affairs pertaining to England and Wales. The attorney general maintains the Attorney G ...
. The department employs more than 1,900
solicitor
A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...
s and
barrister
A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and givin ...
s to provide advice and legal representation on a huge range of issues to many government departments.
History
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.
The head of the department combines the ancient office of
King's Proctor
Proctor (a variant of ''procurator'') is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another.
The title is used in England and some other English-speaking countries in three principal contexts:
* In law, a proctor is a historical class of lawye ...
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 who succeeded Sir Jonathan Jones after his resignation on 8 September 2020. She is also the
Chief Executive
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
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
The Crown Proceedings Act 1947 (c. 44) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that allowed, for the first time, civil actions against the Crown to be brought in the same way as against any other party. The Act also reasserted the com ...
.
In England (with the exception of
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...
,
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...
and
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a Historic counties of England, historic county and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people ...
, where the function is delegated to
Farrer & Co
Farrer & Co is a British law firm headquartered in London, England serving private individuals, charitable institutions and corporations. They have, over their more than three hundred years of operation, acted for many of the Kings and Queens ...
), the Treasury Solicitor is the Crown's nominee for the collection and disposition of ownerless property ('' bona vacantia''). 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
King's Proctor/Procurators General
The office of King's (or Queen's) Proctor is ancient; it also came to be known as HM Procurator General. The following were King's or Queen's Proctor after 1660:
* 1660–1669:
Alexander Cheeke
Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.
Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...
*1669–1700:
Samuel Franklyn
Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bib ...
Edward Greenly
Edward Greenly (3 December 1861 – 4 March 1951) was an English geologist known for his a detailed geological survey of the island of Anglesey. ''The Geology of Anglesey'' was published in two volumes in 1919 and followed by a one-inch geologic ...
James Heseltine
James Heseltine (also spelled Hesletine; c. 1690 – 20 June 1763) was organist of Durham Cathedral.
Life
Heseltine was a pupil of John Blow at the Chapel Royal in London, leaving the chapel choir when his voice broke in 1707. Early in the centur ...
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
A sinecure ( or ; from the Latin , 'without', and , 'care') is an office, carrying a salary or otherwise generating income, that requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service. The term originated in the medieval ch ...
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
The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parli ...
; 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."Solicitors and Assistant-Solicitors, 1660–1870" in J. C. Sainty, ''Office-Holders in Modern Britain'', vol. 1 (University of London, 1972), pp. 97–98. The following were Treasury Solicitors after 1660.
Treasury Solicitor (I; a sinecure by 1744 and abolished in 1800)
* 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
* 1716–1728: Philip Horneck
* 1728–1729:
Edward Roome Edward Roome (died 1729) was an English lawyer, known as one of the writers of the comic opera ''The Jovial Crew''.
Roome was the son of an undertaker for funerals in Fleet Street in London, and was brought up to the law. In October 1728 Roome succ ...
* 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
Philip Carteret Webb (14 August 1702 – 22 June 1770) was an English barrister, involved with the 18th-century antiquarian movement.
He became a member of the London Society of Antiquaries in 1747, and as its lawyer, was responsible for securin ...
* 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
* 1871–1875: John Gray
* 1875–1894: Augustus Keppel StephensonWendie Ellen Schneider, ''Engines of Truth: Producing Veracity in the Victorian Courtroom'' (Yale University Press, 2015), pp. 157–158.
Departments of the United Kingdom Government
The Government of the United Kingdom is divided up into departments. These, according to the government, are responsible for putting government policy into practice. There are currently 23 ministerial departments, 20 non-ministerial departments ...