Public Sentinels: A Comparative Study of Australian Solicitors-General [Hardcover]

In recent years, controversy has surrounded the role of top government lawyers in the United States and the United Kingdom. Allegations of bad lawyering and bad ethics in public office over the torture memos in the United States and the political pressure placed on the Attorney-General in the United Kingdom to approve the legality of the Iraq war, have seen these relatively obscure group of government lawyers thrust into the public debate. Unlike its Anglo-American contemporaries, Australias chief legal adviser, the Solicitor-General, has remained largely out of the public eye. This collection provides a rare and overdue insight into a fundamental public institution in all Australian jurisdictions. It provides a historical, theoretical, practical and comparative perspective of this little known, but vitally important, office at a time when the transparency and accountability of government has taken on an increased significance. Of interest to anyone interested in the integrity of government, the book will be particularly useful to government, political parties and the academy. It will also be a valuable reference work to those working towards a redefinition of the role of top government legal advisors.In recent years, controversy has surrounded the role of top government lawyers both in the US and the UK where allegations of bad lawyering and bad ethics in public office have thrust this group into the public debate. By contrast Australias chief legal adviser, the Solicitor-General, has remained largely out of the public eye. This collection provides an historical, theoretical, practical and comparative perspective and a rare insight into a fundamental public institution in all Australian jurisdictions, and at a time when the transparency and accountability of government has taken on an increased significance.The editors, Gabrielle Appleby, Patrick Keyzer and John Williams, have a large culmination of editorial experience and have published extensively in conslóÎ