Treasury Solicitor's Department

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (February 2008)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

The Treasury Solicitor's Department (TSol) is the largest in-house legal organisation in the United Kingdom's Government Legal Service.

The Department is headed by the Treasury Solicitor. This office goes back several centuries. The office was enshrined in law by the Treasury Solicitor Act 1876, which established the Treasury Solicitor as a corporation sole (an office with perpetual succession). Employees of the Department exercise legal powers which are vested in the corporation sole.

The department is a non-ministerial government department. In addition, it is an executive agency (also known as a next steps agency). The Treasury Solicitor reports to the Attorney General for England and Wales. The department employs more than 600 solicitors and barristers to provide advice and legal representation on a huge range of issues to many government departments.

Her Majesty's Procurator General and Treasury Solicitor is currently Paul Jenkins. He is also the Chief Executive of the Department as an Executive Agency.

The Treasury Solicitor's Department is the authorised address for service of proceedings on most Government departments, by virtue of the list published under the Crown Proceedings Act 1947.

In England (with the exception of Lancashire, Manchester and Cornwall) the Treasury Solicitor is the Crown's nominee for the collection and disposition of ownerless property (Bona Vacantia). This typically comprises the assets of dissolved companies and the estates of persons who die intestate and with no known kin.