General Chambers

The General Chambers (commonly the Attorney General’s Chambers, after the Attorney General who leads them) give legal advice to the federal government of the Commonwealth. Their lawyers answer questions of law for the ministries and parliaments, defend the Commonwealth when it is sued and argue the government’s case before the Constitutional Tribunal. Most of them are officers of the advisory branch of the Commonwealth Legal Service, which was constituted in 1985, the year after the chambers were established. Before then, ministries and bureaus employed their own lawyers, and few of them keep any today.

Most civil actions against the government concern property and work. Since damages are not paid in the commons, most actions ask the court to undo a decision, such as the loss of a house to a competing claim or a refused change of placement, and the Civil Actions Office defends a few thousand of these cases in an ordinary year. Ownership cases brought by the Bureau of Housing on behalf of the public are argued by its Commons Litigation Office.

Under the Firming Laws, any republic, citizen or recognised legal entity can challenge a Provisional Act before the Tribunal, and the chambers answer each challenge for the government. Two acts are in their firming period today. The amendments to the Commonwealth Defence Act (2060) are due to go to a referendum, and the Commonwealth Revenue Act (2063) will become permanent law in 2070 if it is not successfully challenged.

The chambers also handle treaties, extradition and the human rights instruments the Commonwealth has signed. Most extraditions are of foreign traders on the securities markets, who are generally beyond the reach of the Bureau of Securities at home, and are made through the EUROVEK and USVEK extradition treaties. The Law Reform Commission is also part of the chambers, and its Law Revision Office in Antigua has reviewed almost every federal statute at least once since 1984.