§ Mr. DismoreTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 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 77W many occasions his Department instructed Queen's Counsel and (ii) what was the total cost of instructing Queen's Counsel. [81756]
§ Mr. StrawThe Home Office predominately uses junior counsel when it is necessary to instruct counsel to provide legal advice or to conduct legal proceedings.
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 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 Law Officers' approval is required before a Queen's Counsel can be instructed to appear.
In determining the level of counsel to use, the Department considers the individual circumstances of each case. It takes into account, inter alia, the importance and sensitivity of the case, the complexity of the law, the 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 number of occasions on which the Home Office instructed Queen's Counsel in the last three years, and the cost of doing so, cannot be given without incurring disproportionate cost.