§ Ian LucasTo ask the Solicitor-General if she will list the occasions between November 1990 and May 1997 when legal advice given by the Attorney-General to the Government was made public. [158713]
§ The Solicitor-GeneralI am aware of two occasions on which Law Officers' advice was disclosed between November 1990 and May 1997. In both cases disclosure was made for the purposes of judicial proceedings. In 1993, Law Officers' advice relevant to the subject matter of the Scott Inquiry was disclosed to it. The advice was published in an annex to the inquiry report. Law Officers' advice on the 1988 Merchant Shipping Act was disclosed to the other parties in the course of the Factortame litigation in which Spanish fisherman were seeking damages from the Government for a breach of Community law.
On 15 February 1993 the views of the Law Officers were disclosed in the debate on the Maastricht Treaty. However, the Government of the day refused to disclose the full advice.