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Civil
Panel Counsel Information Leaflet
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; and to the Standing Counsel to certain Departments.
The main
panels are normally advertised in October in Counsel Magazine and the
Law Society Gazette. 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.
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