§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Attorney-General if he will list the powers he or the Lord Chancellor exercise, and functions they can carry out, without any specific parliamentary approval.
§ The Attorney-GeneralA large number of provisions in a wide range of statutes require or empower the Lord Chancellor to take certain action or decisions without any specific parliamentary approval other than the authority conferred by the relevant Acts. Other powers and functions are inherent in his office as a Minister of the Crown. In addition, in view of the great antiquity of his office, he has a number of powers vested in him under the common law, by common usage, or by royal charter. Examples are his powers of appointment to certain judicial offices, his powers in exercise of visitatorial powers on behalf of the Crown and his ecclesiastical patronage. The Lord Chancellor is also the senior member of the judiciary, and not infrequently sits to hear cases in the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords, and in the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
As regards my own powers and functions, the greater part of these, which are vested in me either as Her Majesty's legal representative or otherwise by virtue of my office as Attorney-General, are non-statutory and derive 650W their authority from the common law, including the royal prerogative: these obviously do not require specific parliamentary approval. That also applies to certain other of my functions which are inherent in the office of Minister of the Crown: for example, the day-to-day management of my Department. In addition, there are a large number of provisions in a wide range of statutes which empower me to take certain action or decisions without the specific approval of Parliament.