Organisation information
Advisory Counsel
From Office of the Attorney General
Published on
Last updated on
From Office of the Attorney General
Published on
Last updated on
Advisory Counsel are lawyers who provide legal advice to the Government and Government Departments, direct litigation and advise in relation to the development of new legislation. There are approximately 50 Advisory Counsel working in the Office of the Attorney General. They are organised into 5 groups which cover a large range of legal topics. There are three grades of Advisory Counsel: Grade I (Assistant Secretary), Grade II (Principal Officer) and Grade III (Assistant Principal Officer). The Director General and Deputy Director General are also Advisory Counsel.
Advisory Counsel have expertise in all types of legal issues that arise in public life. They specialise in public law, constitutional and administrative law, European law, and areas that are relevant to all Government Departments. The main duty of Advisory Counsel in the Office is to assist the Attorney General in performing his or her functions, powers and duties. The range of advisory work normally carried out by the Office is very broad. It covers domestic, EU, international law and criminal law - in fact, any legal issue on which the Government or a Department may require legal advice. The work carried out by an Advisory Counsel falls broadly into three categories: (1) the provision of legal advice, (2) the direction of litigation, and (3) legal advice in relation to the drafting of legislation.
Advisory Counsel work closely with lawyers in the The Chief State Solicitor’s Office (CSSO) in relation to advising on the conduct of litigation and other legal advice. Advisory Counsel also work closely with lawyers in the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel to the Government (OPC) in relation to advising on legal issues in the drafting of legislation.
The drafting of legislation in the Office of the Attorney General is undertaken by specialist Parliamentary Counsel. Advisory Counsel have an additional important advisory role in the drafting process. The role of the Advisory Counsel is primarily to provide advice on the proposed legislative action, for example, on whether it might conflict with the provisions of the Constitution, acts and treaties of the European Union, the European Convention on Human Rights or other international treaties to which the State has signed up.
Currently, the Advisory side of the Office of the Attorney General includes five groups. Each group is made up of seven to nine Advisory Counsel II and Advisory Counsel III and is led by an Advisory Counsel I. The Director General and Deputy Director General are the senior Advisory Counsel in the Office, with oversight of all of the groups. Advisory Counsel specialise to a significant degree in the areas of law assigned to their groups.
Aside from the five groups in the Office of the Attorney General, a number of Advisory Counsel are seconded to Government Departments and Offices where they work as "in-house" legal advisers. This means that seconded Advisory Counsel temporarily work in a Government Department or Office and provide internal legal advice. Seconded Advisory Counsel are involved in all major legal issues within Departments and they provide independent legal advice directly to Departments in the key areas of legislation, litigation and advisory matters.
Most Government Departments have at least one seconded Advisory Counsel. These Secondees have either established or joined existing departmental Legal Units, embedding the provision of legal advice into the day-to-day business of Government Departments. An Advisory Counsel is also assigned on secondment as Legal Counsellor to the Permanent Representation of Ireland to the European Union in Brussels. Advisory Counsel have from time to time been seconded to the European Commission, the Council of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights.