Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has held with the Attorney General on the UK response to Argentina’s pursuit of a provisional ruling from the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea regarding activities at the Sea Lion oil field in the North Falkland Basin as part of their Annex VII arbitration.

The Law Officers' Convention applies to advice which may or may not have been given by the Law Officers, or requested of the Law Officers, and the Convention applies to the Hon Member's question.

The Law Officers' Convention can be found at paragraph 21.27 of Erskine May:

"By long-standing convention, observed by successive Governments, the fact of, and substance of advice from, the law officers of the Crown is not disclosed outside government. This convention is referred to in paragraph 5.14 of the Ministerial Code. The purpose of this convention is to enable the Government to obtain frank and full legal advice in confidence."