Written question asked by George Howarth (Labour) on Wednesday, 30 January 2002, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 12 February 2002. It was answered by Baroness Winterton of Doncaster (Labour) on Tuesday, 12 February 2002 on behalf of the Lord Chancellor's Department.

Lord Chancellors Dept

Question: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, what reporting procedures exist between the Judge Advocate General's Office and his own.

Answer: Mr. George Howarth: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what reporting procedures exist between the Judge Advocate-General's Office and her own. [33287] Ms Rosie Winterton: There are no formal procedures in place between the office of the Judge Advocate General and the Lord Chancellor's Department. The Office of the Judge Advocate General is a judicial appointment made by Her Majesty the Queen under Letters Patent, and the work that his office carries out is judicial and quasi-judicial advisory post trial work for the Army and Royal Air Force, and is performed by the Judge Advocate General or by judicial officers appointed by the Lord Chancellor or by the Judge Advocate for that purpose. Since the functions of the Judge Advocate General and his judicial officers are judicial or quasi judicial, reporting is not constitutionally appropriate, although the Judge Advocate General is answerable to the Lord Chancellor in the same circumstances as all other judges within his jurisdiction. The budget and accounts of the Office of the Judge Advocate General are supervised by the Lord Chancellor's Department in the usual way. Sir Hayden Phillips, the Permanent Secretary of the Lord Chancellor's Department, is the accounting officer and is responsible to the Public Accounts Committee and the National Audit Office for the propriety of public expenditure incurred by the Office of the Judge Advocate General.

Secondary information