The legal adviser of the Department of State is a position within the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

. It was created by an

Act of Congress An Act of Congress is a statute enacted by the United States Congress. Acts may apply only to individual entities (called Public and private bills, private laws), or to the general public (Public and private bills, public laws). For a Bill (law) ...

on February 23, 1931 (P.L. 71-715; 46 Stat. 1214). The legal adviser replaced the solicitor, a

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

employee who had functioned as the Department of State's chief legal officer since 1891. Between 1870 and 1891, the

examiner of claims Examiner or The Examiner may refer to: Occupations * Bank examiner, a kind of auditor * Examiner (Roman Catholicism), a type of office in the Roman Catholic Church * Examinership, a concept in Irish law * Medical examiner * Patent examiner * Tr ...

had been the chief legal officer of the department. The legal adviser provides legal advice on all problems (domestic and international) arising in the course of the department's activities. Solicitors and examiners of claims were by statute officials of the Department of Justice. The first legal adviser was

Green Hackworth Green Haywood Hackworth (Prestonsburg, Kentucky, January 23, 1883 – Washington, DC, June 24, 1973) was an American jurist who served as the first U.S. judge on the International Court of Justice, as President of the International Court of Just ...

, who served until 1946 and then became a judge on the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...

. The legal adviser heads the United States Department of State Office of the Legal Adviser. As such, the legal adviser has the rank of assistant secretary.

List of legal advisers of the Department of State

References

United States Department of State agencies Government agencies established in 1931 United States diplomacy {{US-law-stub