The Commonwealth Legal Service is a constituent organisation of the Statutory Services.
| Commonwealth Legal Service | |
|---|---|
| Statutory service of the Parliament of Law | |
| Authority | Parliament of Law |
| Branches | Advisory, prosecution, drafting, charters |
| Established | 1985 |
The Commonwealth Legal Service is the statutory service of government lawyers in the Commonwealth. Its officers advise, prosecute and draft legislation for the federal government, and its cadre authority is the Parliament of Law. It was constituted in 1985, the year after the establishment of the General Chambers, and brought together lawyers who had previously been employed separately by individual ministries and bureaus.
The service has four branches. The advisory branch staffs the General Chambers and provides legal opinions to the federal government. The prosecution branch staffs the Commonwealth Prosecution Service. The drafting branch staffs the Commonwealth Register, which drafts and consolidates federal law. The charters branch handles corporate and charter law for the Bureau of Charters and the Bureau of Securities, mostly concerning government enterprises and foreign firms.
Officers of some years’ standing may be appointed to the bench through the Commonwealth Judicial Service, but judges cannot return to the Legal Service.