§ Mr. DismoreTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on her 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 her Department instructed Queen's Counsel and (ii) what was the total cost of instructing Queen's Counsel. [81768]
§ Mr. FoulkesThe Crown Prosecution Service, the Treasury Solicitor's Department, the Serious Fraud Office and the Legal Secretariat to the Law Office predominantly use Junior Counsel when it is necessary to instruct counsel to provide legal advice or to conduct legal proceedings.
In civil cases, 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 their 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 Attorney-General's, or Solicitor-General's, approval is required before a Queen's Counsel can be instructed to appear for any Government Department in civil litigation.
A panel of Senior Treasury Counsel and the Junior Treasury Counsel, who are all Junior Counsel, exists in London to provide advice in more significant criminal case work, and to handle most serious and complex work at the Central Criminal Court. More generally, the Crown Prosecution Service maintains circuit-based lists of Junior Counsel to conduct almost all its criminal casework in the Crown Court in England and Wales. Outside London, Queen's Counsel are instructed in all contested murder cases, and occasionally in other very serious or complex casework prosecuted by the Crown.
In determining the level of counsel to use, the Department will consider the individual circumstances of each case. It will take into account, inter alia, the importance and sensitivity of the case, and the complexity of the law, the weight and complexity of the evidence, and the degree or experience and expertise required before deciding whether to instruct Queen's Counsel or Junior Counsel.
The number of occasions on which the Department for International Development has instructed Queen's Counsel in the last three years, and the cost of doing so, cannot be given without incurring disproportionate cost.