TNAG-0260-FCO40-296-Legislation-for-prevention-of-bribery-in-Hong-Kong-1970 — Page 144

VOLUME 2

CONFIDENTIAL

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SPECIAL PROCEDURES

(c)

Cases in which a Minister, or his officials, wish to have the advice of the Law Officers on questions involving legal considerations which are likely to come before the Cabinet, or a Cabinet Committee.

(d)

(e)

(f)

Cases of particular legal difficulty which may raise political aspects of policy.

Cases in which two or more Government Departments disagree on the law and wish to seek the views of the Law Officers.

Cases in which the action of a Department, or the advice it gives to outside bodies about their actions, may later require a decision by the Law Officers, or by the Director of Public Prosecutions, as to whether a prosecution should or should not be launched. (In these cases consultation with the Law Officers should be virtually automatic and it is particularly important to seek their early advice.)

In all cases it is essential that the Law Officers should be consulted in good time before the Government are committed to critical decisions involving legal considerations. It is, for example, too late to delay consultation with the Law Officers until the paper on which the legal point arises is being circulated for consideration by the Cabinet or Cabinet Committee. Departments should therefore consult their legal advisers about any cases in the above categories in plenty of time for instructions to be prepared for submission to the Law Officers if necessary.

(6) Law Officers' Opinions

(a)

Opinions by the Law Officers of the Crown addressed to British Ministers are strictly confidential and are not forwarded to any other Government. Provided that legal advisers are first consulted, copies of such opinions may, subject to proper precautions to ensure that they are treated as confidential (see (d) below), be communicated to the Governor or equivalent officer in a United Kingdom dependency to whom they are of interest.

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No

(b) The actual words of a Law Officer's Opinion may, however, if his consent has been obtained, be used prefaced in the case of foreign Governments by the words "Her Majesty's Government are advised that....

and in the case of Commonwealth Governments by the words "The British Government are advised that..... indication should be given of the source of the advice. The se expressions should not be used in respect of legal advice except as referring to advice of the Law Officers or to advice with which they have expressed agreement and to the extent of their agreement only.

October 1968

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CONFIDENTIAL