About Us

Royal courts of justice

Role and responsibilities

The Attorney General's Office (AGO) provides high quality legal and strategic policy advice and support to the Attorney General and the Solicitor General (the Law Officers).

The Attorney General's main responsibilities are:

  • Chief legal adviser to the Government and Parliament
  • Guardian of the rule of law and of the public interest,
  • Superintendence of the prosecuting departments

The Attorney general and the Solicitor General are also Criminal Justice Ministers.

The work of the AGO

Our work covers advice and support on the Law Officers' criminal and legal casework in the public interest, including:

  • referring sentences to the Court of Appeal if they may be unduly lenient
  • questions of contempt of court
  • prosecutions requiring the Attorney General's consent
  • issuing a nolle prosequi, to stop a prosecution on indictment
  • taking action to restrain vexatious litigants
  • intervening in the public interest in certain charity and family law cases
  • appointing advocates to act for the Crown
  • exercising the discretion to appoint 'advocates to the court' and 'special advocates' to represent the interests of litigants in cases involving sensitive material
  • referring any points of law to the Court of Appeal after an acquittal in criminal cases and
  • litigation and correspondence arising from the Attorney General's role.

Support to the Law Officers to superintend the work of the Directors of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which from 1 January 2010 incorporates the Revenue and Customs Proseuctions Office (RCPO) and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

Support to the Attorney General to oversee the functions of the Services Prosecuting Authority, the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland; the work of the Treasury Solicitor's Department, HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate and the Government Legal Service; and to sponsor the National Fraud Authority.

Support to the Law Officers as trilateral Criminal Justice Ministers, working with and through the Office for Criminal Justice Reform (OCJR) and the Law Officers Departments (LODs), to identify, lead and co-ordinate action on criminal justice policy initiatives; ensure that policies take account of the role of the prosecutors, prosecution arrangements and resources; and gain agreement on cross-departmental finance and performance, including those arising from Spending Reviews and which have cross-Criminal Justice System impact.