A law clerk, sometimes called parliamentary counsel, is an officer in some parliamentary systems. The law clerk is charged with providing advice on legal issues and parliamentary procedure to the

Speaker Speaker most commonly refers to: * Speaker, a person who produces speech * Loudspeaker, a device that produces sound ** Computer speakers Speaker, Speakers, or The Speaker may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Speaker" (song), by David ...

and members of the chamber. The position is neutral and non-partisan. In some systems, the law clerk is a separate officer responsible to the clerk of the chamber; in other systems, the duty to provide legal advice is part of the duties of the

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts record keeping as well as general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include Records managem ...

of the chamber. Where the advisory functions of the Parliament are exercised by a

Secretary-General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

, he is always the responsible for the legal advice of the President of the Chamber.

Usage

Canada

Parliament of Canada

=House of Commons

= The Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel is part of the House Administration.

=Senate of Canada

= The Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel of the Senate is the chief legal advisor to the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada () is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, they compose the Bicameralism, bicameral le ...

and head of the Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel.

Saskatchewan

The Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel is a branch of the Parliamentary Counsel and Precinct, and provides confidential legal services to

Members Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

of the

Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan The Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan () is the legislative chamber of the Saskatchewan Legislature in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. Bills passed by the assembly are given royal assent by the lieutenant governor of Saskatchewan, in the ...

. The position was formerly known as the Legislative Council and Law Clerk, but was changed to Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel in 2005.

United Kingdom

The

Clerk of the Parliaments The Clerk of the Parliaments is the chief clerk of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The position has existed since at least 1315, and duties include preparing the minutes of Lords proceedings, advising on proper parli ...

is the corporate officer for the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

; the Clerk of the House of Commons is the corporate officer for that House. Their functions (as corporate officers) include: acquiring, holding, managing and disposing of land and other property on behalf of the House; entering into contracts for any purpose of the House; and doing any other thing which he can do by virtue of his office as Clerk.

Theory

Jeremy Bentham Jeremy Bentham (; 4 February Dual dating, 1747/8 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.

5 February 1748 Old Style and New Style dates, N.S. 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat pri ...

– 6 June 1832) was an English philosopher, jurist, and social reformer regarded as the founder of mo ...

's opinion, no act of the assembly could be forged, because "a counterfaction of this kind could not well have had for its author any other person than either the ministerial officer (the clerk) who has the penning of the journals, or the presiding officer (the Speaker), under whose authority and command the other acts". From this seminal functions of the chief of parliamentary staff, other key functions have been added underpinning the parliamentary autonomy in administrations.''New IPU paper focuses on parliamentary administration''

Inter-Parliamentary Union The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU; , UIP) is an international organization of national parliaments. Its primary purpose is to promote democratic governance, accountability, and cooperation among its members; other initiatives include advancing g ...

, 08/10/2020.

References

{{reflist

External links

Officers and officials of Parliament

House of Commons Procedure and Practice: Appendix 10 – Law Clerks of the House of Commons Since 1867
Law clerks Civil services