HL Deb 24 May 1999 vol 601 cc65-6WA
Lord Beaumont of Whitley

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How often the Queen's Proctor has represented the Crown in each of the last five years in (a) maritime and (b) matrimonial causes. [HL2423]

The Lord Chancellor

The Queen's Proctor has not represented the Crown in any maritime causes during the last five years.

The Queen's Proctor does not keep statistics of matrimonial causes where he intervenes or shows cause. The following figures have been compiled by identifying Queen's Proctor files on which court fees have been incurred. On this basis, the number of occasions on which the Queen's Proctor intervened or showed cause, where the files were opened in the years 1994 to 1998 inclusive, are as follows:

  • 1994: 6
  • 1995: 1
  • 1996: 7
  • 1997: 8
  • 1998: 6.

From time to time, the Queen's Proctor appears as an amicus curiae to assist the court in matrimonial matters, but he is not then a party to the proceedings. The number of occasions in the last five years where such assistance was given is not readily identifiable.