CO129-318 - Governor Sir Blake - 1903 [7-10] — Page 362

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COPY.

Enclosure 1.

Hon. Colonial Secretary,

IRFC

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(Red 9 OCT 03! In connection with the instructions con- tained in C. 0. D. No. 192 of the 22nd. May, 1903, to the effect that when the Attorney-General appears as Counsel for the Crown and costs are awarded against the opposite party Counsel's fees should be included in the Crown Solicitor's Bill of Costs and the amount allowed on taxation paid into the Treasury, I feel it my duty to submit that those instructions should be re-consider- ed for the following reasons:-

The Crown Solicitor has no power as such to include in his Bill of Costs between party and party costs which any other Solicitor would not be permitted to include in his Bill of Costs between party and party.

The Crown Solicitor, in common with all Solicitors, may only include in his Bill of Costs between party and party moneys which he has paid to Counsel by way of professional fees, or which he has made himself liable to pay to Counsel.

If the ruling, that the Attorney-General is not to

receive and retain the usual fees allowed to Counsel on taxation,

but that he is to represent the Crown before the Law Courts for

the remuneration which he receives by way of annual salary, is

adhered to, then it follows that the Crown Solicitor can have

no "Counsel's fees" to include in his Bill of Costs against the

other party. The Crown Solicitor can, as I have pointed out,

only properly include in his Bill of Costs such fees as he has

actually paid or will have to pay to Counsel; but the Attorney-

General's salary is not paid by the Crown Solicitor. Such salary

is not paid with reference to any particular matter in which the

Government is interested but is paid to the Attorney-General as

the legal and political adviser in general of the Government. It

must