The Attorney-General is an political office in New Zealand. It is simultaneously a Cabinet position and an administrative office, and has responsibility for supervising New Zealand law and advising the government on legal matters.

Responsibilities and powers

The Attorney-General has two main areas of official responsibility. Firstly, the Attorney-General is has ministerial jurisdiction over the Crown Law Office, the Parliamentary Counsel Office, and the Serious Fraud Office. Secondly, the Attorney-General is the principle law officer of the Crown, responsible for supervising the state's administration of the law and for providing legal advice to the government. In the latter role (but strictly not in the former), the Attorney-General is assisted by the Solicitor-General, a non-partisan official. This is to reduce the extent to which the Attorney-General's actions on behalf of the state (as opposed to the government) can be influenced by their political allegiance.

A more complete description of the Attorney-General's powers can be found in the 2004 ministerial briefing (http://www.beehive.govt.nz/briefings/justice/attorney_general/home.cfm) prepared by the Crown Law Office, which the Attorney-General supervises.

The position of Attorney-General is distinct from that of Minister of Justice, although the two posts are sometimes held by the same person.

At present, there is no statutory basis which establishes the office of Attorney-General, although the position is referenced by a number of other legal documents.

History

The post of Attorney-General has existed since the beginning of New Zealand self-government. Because of the dual nature of the role, however, it has sometimes been filled by politicians and sometimes by jurists — not all Attorney-Generals have been cabinet ministers.

The table below is an imcomplete listing of New Zealand politicians who have sat in Cabinet as attorney-general. It does not show non-political attorneys-general.

Name	PM Served	Took Office	Left Office	Party
Frederick Whitaker	Sewell	7 May 1856	20 May 1856	None
William Fox	(himself)	20 May 1856	2 Jun 1856	None
Frederick Whitaker, 2nd time	Stafford	2 Jun 1856	12 Jul 1861	None
William Fox, 2nd time	(himself)	12 Jul 1961	2 Aug 1861	None
Thomas Gillies	Domett	2 Aug 1861	23 Aug 1862	None
Henry Sewell	Domett	23 Aug 1862	1 Jul 1863	None
Frederick Whitaker, 3rd time	Domett, (himself)	1 Jul 1863	24 Nov 1864	None
Henry Sewell, 2nd time	Weld	24 Nov 1864	16 Oct 1865	None
Frederick Whitaker, 4th time	Atkinson	1 Sep 1876	13 Oct 1877	None
Robert Stout	Grey	13 Mar 1878	25 June 1879	None
Frederick Whitaker, 5th time	(himself)	21 Apr 1882	25 Sep 1883	None
Edward Conolly	Atkinson, Harry	25 Sep 1883	16 Aug 1884	None
Robert Stout, 2nd time	(himself)	16 Aug 1884	28 Aug 1884	None
Robert Stout, 3rd time	(himself)	3 Sep 1884	8 Oct 1887	None
Frederick Whitaker, 3rd time	Atkinson	11 Oct 1887	24 Jan 1891	None
Patrick Buckley	Ballance, Seddon	24 Jan 1891	20 Dec 1895	Liberal
Albert Pitt	Seddon, Hall-Jones, Ward	22 Jun 1903	18 Nov 1906	Liberal
John Findlay	Ward	23 Nov 1906	26 Dec 1911	Liberal
Alexander Herdman	Massey	10 Jul 1912	4 Feb 1918	Reform
Francis Bell	(himself), Coates	14 May 1925	18 Jan 1926	Reform
William Downie Stewart	Coates	18 Jan 1926	24 May 1926	Reform
Francis Rolleston	Coates	24 May 1926	26 Nov 1928	Reform
Thomas Sidey	Ward, Forbes	10 Dec 1928	22 Sep 1931	United
William Downie Stewart, 2nd time	Forbes	22 Sep 1931	28 Jan 1933	Reform (in coalition)
George Forbes	(himself)	28 Jan 1933	6 Dec 1935	United (in coalition)
Rex Mason	Savage, Fraser	6 Dec 1935	13 Dec 1949	Labour
Clifton Webb	Holland	13 Dec 1949	1954	National
Jack Marshall	Holland, Holyoake	1954	1957	National
Rex Mason, 2nd time	Nash	1957	1960	Labour
Ralph Hanan	Holyoake	1960	1969	National
Jack Marshall, 2nd time	Holyoake	1969	?	National
Dan Riddiford	?	?	?	None
Roy Jack	Marshall	1972	1972	National
?	Kirk, Rowling	1972	1975	Labour
?	Muldoon	1975	1978	None
Jim McLay	Muldoon	1978	1984	National
Geoffrey Palmer	Lange	1984	1989	Labour
David Lange	Palmer, Moore	1989	1990	Labour
Paul East	Bolger	1990	1997	National
Doug Graham	Bolger, Shipley	1997	1999	National
Margaret Wilson	Clark	1999	(present)	Labour

External links

• Ministerial Briefing describing the role of the Attorney-General (http://www.beehive.govt.nz/briefings/justice/attorney_general/home.cfm)