The work of the Office

The Attorney General and Solicitor General (the Law Officers) are the chief legal advisers to the Government and are responsible for all crown litigation. They have overall responsibility for the work of:

They also have a statutory duty to superintend the discharge of the duties of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP, head of the CPS), the Director of the SFO and the Director of the RCPO. The Attorney General also oversees the functions of the DPP for Northern Ireland.

The Law Officers have certain public interest functions, for example, in taking action to appeal unduly lenient sentences; bringing proceedings under the Contempt of Court Act; giving consents for prosecutions; issuing a nolle prosequi; referring to the Court of Appeal on a point of law; and protecting charities.

The Law Officers also deal with questions of law arising on Government Bills and with issues of legal policy. They are concerned with all major international and domestic litigation involving the Government and questions of European Community and International Law as they may affect Her Majesty's Government, and on occasion - where it does not conflict with their Governmental role - they give advice to Parliament on procedural questions, matters of standards and privileges, and on the meaning and effect of proposed legislation.

The Attorney General has been appointed Ministerial Champion for a number of Criminal Justice issues including Narrowing the Justice Gap - bringing more offenders to justice. As such, he has over-arching responsibility for the Criminal Case Management Programme, which is made up of three separate but linked programmes:

The Charging Initiative

Managed by the CPS and police, under which prosecutors are taking responsibility for charging offenders in all but the most minor cases;

The No Witness No Justice programme

Managed by the CPS, the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Home Office and the Office for Public Service Reform, under which victims and witnesses are given the support and information they need to enable them to give the best evidence they can;

The Effective Trial Management Programme

Managed by the CPS, MoJ and Home Office, under which realistic court dates are given and stuck to.

The Solicitor General is the Ministerial Champion for work on diversions.

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The Prosecutors' Pledge

From 21 July 2006, all major public prosecuting authorities will follow a new pledge to take into account and protect the interests of victims.

The Attorney General has set out a Prosecutor's Pledge which requires all prosecutors to consider and support the interests of victims at every point in the case from charge to appeal in all types of case.

Each prosecuting agency has looked at the commitments of the Prosecutors' Pledge and adapted it to their areas of work.