The Solicitor-General (or Solicitor General) is the second law officer of state in New Zealand. The Solicitor-General is also head of the

Crown Law Office The Crown Law Office (Crown Law) ( Māori: ''Te Tari Ture o te Karauna'') is the public service department of New Zealand charged with advising the government on legal affairs, representing the government in appellate cases, and overseeing the pr ...

, that comprises lawyers employed to represent the Attorney-General in court proceedings in New Zealand. The current Solicitor-General is Una Jagose. Under section 9A of the Constitution Act 1986 the Solicitor-General can exercise almost all of the statutory functions conferred on the Attorney-General. As the non-political Law Officer, the Solicitor-General has traditionally assumed responsibility for the exercise of those functions that should be undertaken independently of the political process. The Crown Law Office supervises the prosecution of major criminal offences, with most prosecutions being conducted by regional law firms that act as Crown Solicitors.

History

New Zealand has had its own Attorney-General since 1841 and the position of Solicitor-General was established in 1867 which was initially a political office as it currently is in England. In 1875, the office became a permanent government position.

Walter Scott Reid Walter Scott Reid (25 October 1839 – 31 January 1920) was New Zealand's first non-political Solicitor-General and the first elected president of the New Zealand Law Society. Early life Reid was born in 1839 in Edinburgh, Scotland. His father, ...

was the first to hold the position. He remained in the position for the next 25 years. During this period the roles and responsibilities of the Attorney-General and the Solicitor-General were the subject of some debate and clarification by the Supreme Court. In 1854 the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

introduced a

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

to establish, among others, the position of Solicitor-General. James O'Neill opposed the establishment of the position because each

Province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

had its own Solicitor and thought that they together with the Attorney-General were sufficient. Whether the position was established is difficult to determine. Papers in 1854 refer to

Henry Sewell Henry Sewell (7 September 1807 – 14 May 1879) was a prominent 19th-century New Zealand politician. He was a notable campaigner for New Zealand self-government, and is generally regarded as having been the country's first premier (an office th ...

as the late Solicitor-General, yet his biography says he was Attorney-General. Also, in 1861 reference is made of William Travers being offered the position, but Travers had not been in office since 1859. When William MacGregor was appointed judge in 1923, the Attorney-General,

Francis Bell Francis Bell may refer to: *Arthur Bell (martyr) (1590–1643), also known as Francis Bell, Franciscan and English martyr *Dillon Bell (Francis Dillon Bell; 1822–1898), New Zealand politician, father of the New Zealand Prime Minister *Francis Bel ...

discontinued the office of Solicitor General, with the tasks to be carried out by the Principal Law Officer, to which office Arthur Fair was appointed. Fair was eventually appointed Solicitor-General in May 1925, and at the same time, he was made a

King's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

. The current Solicitor-General is Una Jagose, who was appointed in February 2016. Jagose was a former acting head of the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) and prior to that had spent two years as Deputy Solicitor, Crown Legal Risk at Crown Law. Her predecessor was Michael Heron , who was appointed in July 2012. Heron is a former partner of Meredith Connell (the firm that holds the Crown Prosecution warrant in Auckland) and more recently, Russell McVeagh. In turn, his predecessor was Dr David Collins KC, who was appointed as a judge of the High Court in March 2012. There has been a usual practice of appointing the Solicitor General as a judge of the High Court, although former Solicitor-General Terrence Arnold's predecessor, John McGrath KC, was appointed to the Court of Appeal in July 2000 (Justice McGrath was subsequently appointed to the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

in May 2005. Justice Arnold was appointed to the Supreme Court in June 2013).

List of solicitors-general

Political office (1867 to 1875)

* John Hyde Harris (1867–1868)

Civil office (from 1875)

(1875–1900) * Frederick Fitchett (1901–1910) * Sir John Salmond (1910–1920) * William MacGregor (1920–1923) * ''Vacant'' (1924) * Arthur Fair (1925–1934) *

Henry Cornish Henry Cornish (died 1685) was a London alderman, executed in the reign of James II of England. Life He was a well-to-do merchant of London, and alderman of the ward of St Michael Bassishaw; in the ''London Directory'' for 1677 he is described as ...

(1934–1945) * Herbert Evans (1945–1956) * Richard Wild QC (1957–1966) * John White QC (1966–1970) * Richard Savage QC (1970–1980) *

Paul Neazor Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

QC (1980–1989) * John McGrath QC (1989–2000) *

Terence Arnold Sir Terence Arnold (born 1947) is a judge of the Supreme Court of New Zealand. He was the Solicitor-General of New Zealand from 2000, before being made a judge of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand, Court of Appeal of New Zealand in 2006. He was ...

KC (2000–2006) * Dr

David Collins David Collins may refer to: Persons * David Collins (Hampshire cricketer), 18th-century cricketer * David Collins (New Zealand cricketer) (1887–1967) * David Collins (Scottish footballer) (1912–?) * David Collins (Australian footballer) ( ...

KC (2006–2012) *

Michael Heron James Michael Heron (born 27 December 1942) is a Scottish singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his work in the Incredible String Band in the 1960s and 1970s. Career Heron was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and attended th ...

KC (2012–2016) * Una Jagose KC (2016–present)

Notes

References

* * *{{cite book , last= Wilson , first= James Oakley , title= New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 , edition= 4th , orig-year=First published in 1913 , year= 1985 , publisher=V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer , location= Wellington , oclc= 154283103

External links

Crown Law Office website
Lists of office-holders in New Zealand