Guidelines for Legal Work not charged for by the Attorney-General's Department - January 2003
These guidelines describe legal work undertaken without charge for Departments and agencies in respect of policy functions for which they are responsible.
Cabinet Work
The following Cabinet work is undertaken without charge:
- legislation certificates given by AGS as part of the coordination comments provided by the Attorney-General's Department on Cabinet submissions, and
- legal advice provided by the Attorney-General's Department (but not by AGS) on draft cabinet submissions and memoranda. B.
Drafting
The Office of Legislative Drafting in the Attorney-General's Department undertakes the following drafting without charge:
- Statutory Rules under Commonwealth Acts,
- Ordinances and Regulations of non-self-governing Territories,
- Proclamations, and
- other legislative instruments made or approved by the Governor-General, or published in the Statutory Rules series.
Notes: Legal advice provided by the Office of Legislative Drafting at the request of a client in connection with drafting is billable.
Instruments other than those mentioned in paragraphs (i) to (iv) above are drafted for client departments and agencies on a billable basis. Enquiries regarding the work of the Office of Legislative Drafting should be raised with the Principal Legislative Counsel on telephone (02) 6250 6263 or by email to old.drafting@ag.gov.au.
Public international law
The Office of International Law in the Attorney-General's Department undertakes public international law work without charge, except:
- advice on the implementation of international law in Australia, including on the implementation of draft treaties still under negotiation,
- advice on international law and its implementation given for the purposes of domestic litigation,
- advice on domestic law, including statutes, regulations and the common law, advice on constitutional law including that relating to entry into international obligations and giving effect to those obligations, and
- assistance given in the preparation and clearance of treaty National Interest Analyses intended for tabling in Parliament.
Notes: All work on the matters outlined in paragraphs (i) to (v) above is billable including the cost of attending any necessary meetings.
Common forms of work performed without charge include advice on the negotiation of multilateral treaties and government to government international litigation and arbitration.
Enquiries regarding the work of the Office of International Law should be raised with the First Assistant Secretary on telephone 02 6250 6305, or by email to oil@ag.gov.au.
- The Department's ability to carry out work without charge is dependent on the availability of the resources. The requesting Department or agency will be required to pay for disbursements such as the cost of engaging counsel, travel, and court and arbitration costs and fees.
- These guidelines do not define the work that is tied (ie legal work, such as constitutional and public international law matters, not able to be referred by Departments and agencies to a private legal service provider - for information on tied work see paragraph 2, and Appendix A, of the Legal Services Directions. The Legal Services Directions are available here. While the work described in categories A, B and C above is all tied work, other work may also be tied. (The fact that work is tied does not of itself mean that it is not billable.)
- The Office of Legal Services Coordination in the Attorney-General's Department should be consulted in relation to a request if it is not clear whether the work requested comes within the criteria for work to be performed without charge.
Enquiries regarding such matters should be raised with the Assistant Secretary on telephone 02 6250 6611, fax 02 6250 5968 or by email to olsc@ag.gov.au.
14 January 2003