Power of Attorney

A Power of Attorney is a legal document whereby a person gives another person or persons the power to take decisions with regard to their financial affairs and/or their health and personal welfare.

There are significant differences between powers of attorney in England (and Wales) and Scotland, including different terminology. In England the person giving another person the power to act on their behalf is called the "Donor"; in Scotland he/she is called the "Granter". The person or persons to whom the powers are granted are called "Attorneys". Both jurisdictions allow you to set up either a temporary power of attorney (for things like letting someone manage your bank account for you while you are travelling) or something more permanent (should you ever become unable to manage your affairs for yourself).

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The different types of powers of attorney and related documents are described below.

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In New Zealand

In New Zealand, the Attorney-General is the chief law officer and primary legal advisor of the New Zealand government. Historically, the post could be held either by a politician or by a senior jurist, but today, it is invariably held by a member of Parliament. The Attorney-General attends Cabinet, but the post is not the same as the Minister of Justice. The Attorney-General has departmental responsibility for the Crown Law Office, the Parliamentary Counsel Office, and the Serious Fraud Office. By tradition, persons appointed to the position of Attorney-General have almost invariably been lawyers. Only two former Attorneys-General have not been lawyers, most recently Dr Michael Cullen who held the post in 2005, and again from 2006. Cullen's appointment was controversial at the time because of his non-legal background.

In Australia

In Australia the Attorney-General is the chief law officer of the Crown and a member of the Cabinet. The Attorney-General is the minister responsible for legal affairs, national and public security and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. Robert McClelland is the current Attorney-General.

The Minister for Justice and Customs was formerly the minister assisting the Attorney-General. As of the 3rd December 2007, the Minister for Home Affairs has been responsible for the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Customs Service, as well as the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO). The current Minister for Home Affairs is Bob Debus.

The Australian states each have an Attorney-General, who is a state minister with similar responsibilities to the federal minister with respect to state law.

Functions of the state and federal Attorneys-General include the administration of the selection of persons for nomination to judicial posts, and authorising prosecutions. In normal circumstances the prosecutorial powers of the Attorney-General are exercised by the Director of Public Prosecutions and staff, however the Attorney-General maintains formal control, including the power to initiate and terminate public prosecutions and take over private prosecutions. Statutory criminal law provides that prosecutions for certain offences require the individual consent of the Attorney-General. This is generally for offences whose illegality is of a somewhat controversial nature, or where there is perceived to be a significant risk that prosecutions of a political nature may be embarked upon. The Attorney-General also generally has the power to issue certificates legally conclusive of certain facts (e.g. that the revelation of certain matters in court proceedings might constitute a risk to national security); the facts stated in such certificates must be accepted by the courts and cannot legally be disputed by any parties. The Attorney-General also has the power to issue a nolle prosequi with respect to a case, which authoritatively determines that the state (in whose name prosecutions are brought) does not wish to prosecute the case, so preventing any person from doing so.

Attorney General

The term has traditionally been used to refer to any person who holds a general power of attorney to represent a principal in all matters. In the common law tradition, anyone who represents the state, especially in criminal prosecutions, is such an attorney. Although a government may designate some official as the permanent attorney general, anyone who comes to represent the state in the same way, even if only for a particular case, is an attorney general, and when that is a private individual, he may be distinguished from the permanent official as being a private or pro tempore attorney general. Although most nations primarily use full-time professional prosecutors in criminal cases, this is a fairly recent development, emerging in the latter half of the 19th century. Until the advent of public prosecutors (in the United States commonly called district attorneys at the district or county level), criminal prosecutions were conducted by private persons, usually lawyers, who would be appointed attorney general by receiving a bill of indictment from a grand jury. Today private criminal prosecutions are discouraged by judges, but the practice survives in the use of "special prosecutors" or "independent counsel" created by special legislation.

This usage can also be seen in the title "secretary general", for a secretary, or executive official, with general authority, normally the chief executive of a hierarchy of executive officials, or "surgeon general", for the chief surgeon of a team of surgeons.

Some people think the word "general" used in that way entitles the official to the honorific "general", but this is strictly only appropriate for military generals.[1] The word "general" in "attorney general" is an adjective (unlike the military term). The plural of "attorney general" is "attorneys general".