Shawcross principle
The Shawcross principle is an idea in the Westminster system of government whereby the Attorney-General is to be left to his own devices and judgments in regards of whether or not to establish criminal proceedings. It relates to political pressure and cabinet government.[1][2]
History
What we know as the Shawcross principle was the subject of Parliamentary debate on 29 January 1951.[3] In a lengthy defense of his conduct regarding an illegal strike, Attorney-General Shawcross cited hundreds of years of precedent as to the firm foundation of his actions.
The principle (or doctrine) states that the Attorney General:[4][5][6]
- must take into account matters of public interest,
- that assistance from cabinet colleagues must be limited to advice,
- that responsibility for the decision is that of the Attorney General alone, and
- that the government is not to put pressure on him or her.
The 1964 Rivard affair in Canada caused the sitting Attorney-General, Guy Favreau, to resign because of his non-prosecution of senior officials in the Pearson government over their attempted bribery of American officials in Rivard's case.[7]
The Shawcross principle was cited by Australian Attorney-General Bob Ellicott who cited attempts by his boss, Malcolm Fraser, to control his discretion.[7]
In 2004 in the context of the Tony Blair's invasion of Iraq, a whistleblower by the name of Katharine Gun risked prosecution under the Official Secrets Act. Lawyers for Gun, who was formerly a GCHQ translator, asked for disclosure of advice on the legality of the Iraq war given by Attorney-General Lord Goldsmith in his role as the government's legal adviser. Goldsmith said that he had conducted what is known as a "Shawcross exercise". Goldsmith sent a "Shawcross letter" to the foreign secretary, Jack Straw, who was responsible for GCHQ, advising him that HMG should decline to pursue Gun.[8]
Commentary
- Keyzer, Patrick (2016). Public Sentinels: A Comparative Study of Australian Solicitors-General. Routledge. p. 312.
- King, L.J. (November 1999). THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL, POLITICS AND THE JUDICIARY (PDF). Fourth Annual Colloquium of the Judicial Conference of Australia.
- McCarthy, Alana (December 2004). "The Evolution of the Role of the Attorney-General". Murdoch University Electronic Journal of Law. 23rd Annual Australia and New Zealand Law and History Society Conference. 11 (4): 30.CS1 maint: location (link)
- Rosenberg, Marc (2009). "The Attorney General and the Prosecution Function on the Twenty-First Century". Queen's Law Journal. Kingston, Ontario: Queen's University. 43 (2): 813–862.
- Stenning, Phillip C (2009). "Prosecutions, Politics and the Public Interest: Some Recent Developments in the United Kingdom, Canada and Elsewhere". Crim. L.Q. 55: 449.
- "The Decision to Prosecute" (PDF). Attorney-General for Newfoundland and Labrador. 1 October 2007.
- "Prosecutorial Independence – Continuity and Development" (PDF) (11). November 2008. Cite journal requires
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(help) - Wong Yan Lung, The Secretary for Justice as the Protector of the Public Interest – Continuity and Development (2007) 37 HKLJ 319
References
- Shawcross, Hartley (29 January 1951). "Prosecutions (Attorney-General's Responsibility)". Hansard. House of Commons Debates (c681).
- Heintzman, Ralph (16 May 2020). "The real meaning of the SNC-Lavalin affair". The Globe and Mail Inc.
- Dube, Jacob (14 August 2019). "What is the Shawcross Principle, the judicial doctrine that the ethics commissioner said Trudeau breached?". The PEI Guardian. SaltWire Network, Postmedia.
- Rosenberg, The Honourable Marc (2009). "The Attorney General and the Prosecution Function on the Twenty-First Century". Queen's Law Journal (43(2)). Retrieved 12 September 2019 – via www.ontariocourts.ca.
- Spratt, Michael (25 February 2019). "Opinion: The real scandal in the SNC-Lavalin affair". CanadianLawyerMag.com. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
- Forcese, Craig (9 February 2019). "L'Affaire SNC-Lavalin: The Public Law Principles". craigforcese.squarespace.com (Blog). Retrieved 12 September 2019.
- Colvin, Victoria (19 February 2019). "The SNC-Lavalin affair and the politics of prosecution". The Conversation Trust (UK) Limited.
- Dyer, Clare (27 February 2004). "The importance of the Shawcross principle". Guardian News & Media Limited.