he Attorney General want to order Government lawyers to provide “solution-based advice” when challenging the legality of ministers’ policies.
Updated guidelines to be published shortly will state that when “a substantial legal challenge to a policy is likely, it does not automatically mean that the policy cannot be pursued,” a spokesperson for Suella Braverman said.
“The focus should be on how government lawyers can work with ministers to resolve issues.”
It comes in the wake of the dispute over the government’s controversial policy to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda and rising tensions between ministers and the legal profession.
But the attorney general’s office denied a report in the Daily Telegraph saying it banned government lawyers from denouncing ministers’ policies as illegal.
Her spokesman said the new directive “will not prevent government lawyers from telling ministers that policies are illegal”.
Added: “It remains critical for government attorneys to assess the legal risk and legality of government policies and advise accordingly.”
The statement sent to the PA news agency continued: “Updates to the legal risk guidelines will place more emphasis than previous versions on the need for government lawyers to provide solution-based advice when advising ministers on the risks of their policies …
“While the guidelines do not change the risk assessment underlying government decision-making, it is becoming clearer that when, for example, a substantial legal challenge to a policy is likely, it does not automatically mean that the policy cannot be pursued.
“It emphasizes finding solutions that can be put in place to mitigate legal risks and their impact, to ensure that public policies are implemented, even if they are new or complex, but always within the law.”
Lawyers had lashed out at the reported ban, with an unnamed legal adviser telling the Telegraph it “questions our ability to hold the government to account” and former attorney general Dominic Grieve called it an “idiotic” idea.
He said the government could still go ahead with a policy its lawyers deem illegal.
“Indeed, this current government under the current prime minister is quite keen to do that from time to time,” he told the newspaper.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly struck down the legal challenges that effectively grounded the first flight to transport asylum seekers to Rwanda last month, suggesting they are “turning on” criminal gangs.
A series of legal challenges have led to uncertainty about when further flights to the East African country will be attempted, although Home Secretary Priti Patel has insisted the government “will not be deterred”.