Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill (provisions relating to the Attorney General) : fourth report of session 2007-08, report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence

This report examines the Draft Constitutional Renewal Bill (contained in "The Governance of Britain - Constitutional Renewal (Cm. 7342-I/II/III)" - ISBN 9780101734226) to see how far its provisions put into effect the recommendations of the Constitutional Affairs Committee report "The Constitutional Role of the Attorney General (HC 306)" (ISBN 9780215035462).The Draft Bill makes no substantial change to the current situation.

The Attorney General remains both chief legal adviser to the Government and a Government minister.

There is no justification for giving the Attorney General power to halt investigations by the Serious Fraud Office and the Committee favours a statutory duty being placed on ministers to observe the rule of law.The accountability of the post remains limited.

Public confidence in the post could be enhanced if it were to become the practice to publish all or most of the Attorney General's advice where it is referred to in support of a political case being put forward by the Government.The problem of being both legal adviser and a minister is difficult to resolve but the Committee believes that transparency requires separating the political functions from the legal functions. The Draft Bill fails to achieve the purpose given to constitutional reform by the Prime Minister: it gives greater power to the Executive and it does not add to transparency.