§ Mr. DismoreTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on his Department's policy when(a) conducting legal proceedings and (b) seeking legal advice as to the circumstances in which Queen's Counsel should be instructed; and for each of the last three years (i) on how many occasions his Department instructed Queen's Counsel and (ii) what was the total cost of instructing Queen's Counsel. [81770]
§ Mr. MealeThe Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions predominately uses junior counsel when it is necessary to instruct counsel to provide legal advice, as does the Treasury Solicitor when instructing counsel in court' proceedings involving the Department.
The two First Treasury Counsel are both junior counsel and they will advise and represent the government without a Queen's Counsel in many of its important civil cases. In addition, the Attorney-General maintains four panels of junior Counsel whom departments are expected to use for the majority of the government's civil litigation. The approval of the Attorney-General or the Solicitor-General is required before a Queen's Counsel can be instructed to appear for any government department in civil litigation.
In determining the level of counsel to use (whether in connection with civil or criminal proceedings, or the provision of legal advice), the department will consider the individual circumstances of each case. It will take into account, amongst other things, the importance and sensitivity of the case, the complexity of the law, the 142W weight and complexity of the evidence, and the degree of experience and expertise required before deciding whether to instruct Queen's Counsel or junior counsel.
The information as to cost is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.