Brexit: Revocability

Lord Pannick Excerpts
Wednesday 20th December 2017

(7 years ago)

Lords Chamber
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Lord Pannick Portrait Lord Pannick (CB)
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My Lords, will the Minister accept that Erskine May continues, that,

“if a Minister deems it expedient that such opinions should be made known for the information of the House”,

that is perfectly permissible? Will he accept also that there have been many occasions over the years when the advice of the law officers has been published, and will he accept the conclusion of Professor John Edwards in his authoritative book, The Attorney General, Politics and the Public Interest, that the decision whether to publish particular advice of the law officer depends on,

“considerations of political advantage or embarrassment to the government”?

Does he agree?

Lord Callanan Portrait Lord Callanan
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The noble Lord is of course very experienced in legal matters and I thank him for his very interesting opinion.