It is a longstanding constitutional convention, set out in the Cabinet Manual and the Ministerial Code, that the fact that the Law Officers have advised or have not advised, and the content of their advice, must not be disclosed without their authority. The convention exists for fundamental constitutional reasons and to promote the public interest in the Rule of Law. Whether the Law Officers have advised and the content of that advice is part of the collective Cabinet decision-making process. The convention reflects the public interest in collective Cabinet responsibility. It also reflects the fact that Law Officers\u2019 advice is confidential legal advice and, as with all professional legal advice, it is subject to legal professional privilege. In addition, it acknowledges the feature of Law Officers\u2019 advice which sets it apart from other legal advice, namely that it is sought in relation to issues of particular complexity, sensitivity and constitutional importance. It is a matter of constitutional importance that the provision of advice in these circumstances should be protected in the public interest.<\/p>
<\/p>
A decision to disclose would require an exceptional countervailing public interest. No such case has arisen since May 2015.<\/p>
<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1560", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Sir Jeremy Wright"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Kenilworth and Southam"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Jeremy Wright"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2016-03-07", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2016-03-07T15:42:28.27Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "88"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Attorney General"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Attorney General"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2016-03-01", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Legal Opinion: Disclosure of Information"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Attorney General, what criteria he uses when deciding whether to make public legal advice made available to Government; and on what occasions such legal advice has been made public since May 2015.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/545", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Paul Flynn"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Newport West"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Paul Flynn"} ], "uin" : "29279"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/420224", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Attorney General"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/420224/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) maintains no central record of defendants prosecuted for the offence of possession of cannabis. This information could only be obtained by examining CPS case files, which would incur a disproportionate cost.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4106", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "South Swindon"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Robert Buckland"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2015-10-14", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2015-10-14T16:38:28.37Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "88"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Attorney General"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Attorney General"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2015-10-09", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Cannabis: Prosecutions"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Attorney General, how many people were prosecuted for possession of cannabis in each of the last 10 years.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/545", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Paul Flynn"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Newport West"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Paul Flynn"} ], "uin" : "11260"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/348648", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Attorney General"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/348648/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The Serious Fraud Office has been following closely the emerging allegations and holds material which it is actively reviewing.<\/p>
<\/p>
I meet the Director and other Ministers frequently to discuss a variety of issues. However, as was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government\u2019s policy to provide details of all such meetings.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4106", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Sir Robert Buckland"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "South Swindon"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Robert Buckland"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2015-06-09", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2015-06-09T10:30:17.293Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "88"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Attorney General"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Attorney General"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2015-06-04", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "FIFA: Corruption"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Attorney General, what assessment he has made of the recent report by the US Department of Justice containing indictments against several senior football officials for corruption, bribery and racketeering in the British Overseas Territories of British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands; and what discussions he has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Justice and (b) the Serious Fraud Office about potential prosecution of people named in that report.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/545", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Paul Flynn"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Newport West"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Paul Flynn"} ], "uin" : "1275"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 3, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }