The Legal Department, headed by the

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

, was the department responsible for the laws of Hong Kong until 1997, when Hong Kong ceased to be a British

crown colony A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony administered by The Crown within the British Empire. There was usually a Governor, appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the UK Government, with or without the assistance of a local Counci ...

. The department was responsible for dealing with criminal cases and cases on behalf of the Government of Hong Kong. Since 1997, the name of the department has been changed to the

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 v ...

and the head of the department renamed the

Secretary for 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 v ...

Organisation

The Attorney General's Office consisted of: *

Prosecutions Division (Hong Kong) The Prosecutions Division (刑事檢控科) of the Department of Justice, is the public prosecution office in Hong Kong led by the Director of Public Prosecutions. The Prosecutions Division is the largest in the Department, with about 125 lawyers, ...

– the prosecution in the majority of Court of Appeals Instance and District Court * Civil Division – headed by the Law Officer (Civil Law), provided legal advice on civil law to all Government bureaux and departments and represented the Government both as solicitors and as barristers in all civil litigation, including arbitrations * Legal Policy Division – was responsible for drafting all Government legislation * Law Drafting Division – serviced the needs of the Solicitor General, and gave legal policy advice in respect of matters currently being considered by the Government * International Law Division – was headed by the Law Officer (International Law) and provided advice on public international law to the Government and negotiates, or provided legal advisers on negotiations, for bilateral agreements * Administration and Development Division – was headed by the Director of Administration and Development

External links

Hong Kong government departments and agencies Prosecution {{HongKong-gov-stub