Attorney General's Panel of Counsel

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Introduction to the Panel of Counsel

The Attorney General maintains four panels of junior counsel to undertake civil and EC work for all Government Departments. These are in addition to the two First Treasury Counsel who do exclusively Government work, James Eadie QC and Jonathan Swift QC; and to the Standing Counsel to certain Departments.

The main panels are normally advertised in October in Counsel Magazine. Standing Counsel posts are advertised as they fall vacant.

There are three London panels (an A panel for senior juniors, a B panel for middle juniors and a C panel for junior juniors) and a Regional panel. The size of each panel is determined by need. Although appointment to any of the Panels cannot be a guarantee that work will be available, it is intended that each advocate appointed should be given at least a minimum amount of work, and a monitoring process is in place for this purpose. In order to increase the opportunity for appointment or promotion within the panels, appointments are for a limited period, with the possibility of renewal at the end of that period. The performance of each individual member of the Panels is also monitored. There are currently around 354 members of the Attorney General’s civil panels.

The Role of the Law Officers

The Law Officers have responsibility for the approval of counsel instructed on behalf of Government. This responsibility is discharged in relation to civil cases through the establishment and management of the Civil Panels. Both Law Officers take a keen ongoing interest in panel counsel. They approve appointments and receive regular feedback on the instruction and performance of panel counsel. They are also interested in ongoing policy development to ensure that the operation of the panels is as effective as possible to the benefit of both Government and counsel. They operate an equal opportunities policy in relation to the panels and are concerned to ensure that counsel instructed on behalf of Government are of the highest calibre. The Law Officers recognise that the role is a demanding one and take pride in the work carried out by panel counsel.

Participating Departments

All Government departments must use the Panels. Agencies of Government Departments must also use the Panels. Non Departmental Public Bodies are not obliged to use Panel Counsel but are encouraged to do so. If they wish to go off panel they must notify the Attorney General’s Office.