Solicitor-General Act 1969 (WA)

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Western Australia

Solicitor-General Act 1969

Western Australia

Solicitor-General Act 1969 Contents

Western Australia

Solicitor‑General Act 1969

Solicitor‑General Act 1969

An Act relating to the office of Solicitor‑General of the State of Western Australia.

1.Short title

This Act may be cited as the Solicitor‑General Act 1969.

2.Terms used in this Act
  • (1)

    In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears — 

Attorney General includes, where there is a vacancy in the office of Attorney General the person holding office as the Minister for Justice;

Solicitor‑General means a person holding office as Solicitor‑General of the State of Western Australia in pursuance of this Act.

  • (2)

    In sections 5, 9 and 13, Solicitor‑General includes a person acting in the office of Solicitor‑General of the State of Western Australia in pursuance of this Act.

[Section 2 amended: No. 57 of 1997 s. 112(1); No. 29 of 2006 s. 4.]

3.Solicitor‑General, appointment and qualifications
  • (1)

    The Governor may appoint a person to be the Solicitor‑General of the State of Western Australia.

  • (1a)

    Subject to this Act, the Solicitor‑General holds office for the term (not exceeding 7 years) fixed by the instrument of appointment and is eligible for reappointment.

  • (2)

    A person is eligible for appointment as Solicitor‑General if that person is a lawyer and has had not less than 8 years’ legal experience.

  • (3)

    In subsection (2) —

legal experience means —

  • (a)

    standing and practice as a legal practitioner; or

  • (b)

    judicial service (including service as a judge of a court, a magistrate or other judicial officer) in the State or elsewhere in a common law jurisdiction; or

  • (c)

    a combination of both kinds of legal experience mentioned in paragraphs (a) and (b).

[Section 3 amended: No. 65 of 2003 s. 118; No. 29 of 2006 s. 5; No. 21 of 2008 s. 705; No. 9 of 2022 s. 424.]

4.Remuneration
  • (1)

    In this section —

remuneration has the meaning given to that term in section 4(1) of the Salaries and Allowances Act 1975.

  • (2)

    The remuneration of the Solicitor‑General is to be determined by the Salaries and Allowances Tribunal under the Salaries and Allowances Act 1975.

[Section 4 inserted: No. 29 of 2006 s. 6.]

4A.Leave and other conditions of service

The Governor may determine —

  • (a)

    the leave of absence to which the Solicitor‑General is entitled; and

  • (b)

    other terms and conditions of service that apply to the Solicitor‑General.

[Section 4A inserted: No. 29 of 2006 s. 6.]

5.Resignation
  • (1)

    The Solicitor‑General may resign his office by instrument in writing under his hand and delivered to the Governor.

  • [(2)

    deleted]

[Section 5 amended: No. 29 of 2006 s. 7.]

6.Private practice prohibited except with approval

Except in the performance of the functions or duties of his office or with the approval of the Governor the Solicitor‑General shall not engage in the practice of a barrister or solicitor or engage in any other paid employment.

7.Removal from office

The Governor may remove the Solicitor‑General from office if the Solicitor‑General — 

  • (a)

    except by reason of temporary illness becomes incapable of performing the duties of his office; or

  • (b)

    is guilty of misbehaviour; or

  • (c)

    is, according to the Interpretation Act 1984 section 13D, a bankrupt or a person whose affairs are under insolvency laws.

[Section 7 amended: No. 18 of 2009 s. 82.]

8.Acting Solicitor‑General
  • (1)

    In the event of a vacancy occurring in the office of Solicitor‑General, or of the illness or absence of the person holding that office, the Governor may appoint a person who is eligible for appointment to that office to act as Solicitor‑General and may at any time revoke the appointment.

  • (1a)

    Subject to this Act, a person appointed under subsection (1) holds office for the term (not exceeding 12 months) fixed by the instrument of appointment and is eligible for reappointment.

  • (2)

    A person appointed under subsection (1) holds office until — 

    • (a)

      the appointment is revoked or expires; or

    • (aa)

      the person resigns the office; or

    • (b)

      a person is appointed Solicitor‑General under section 3; or

    • (c)

      the person holding office as Solicitor‑General ceases to be ill or absent,

whichever first happens.

  • (3)

    The Governor may determine the terms and conditions of service that apply to a person appointed under subsection (1).

[Section 8 amended: No. 29 of 2006 s. 8.]

9.Functions

The Solicitor‑General — 

  • (a)

    may act as counsel for the Crown in right of the State and for any other body or person for whom the Attorney General requests him to act, and may perform such other duties of counsel as the Attorney General directs; and

  • (b)

    may exercise, subject to this Act, any powers and functions conferred on the Solicitor‑General by any Act of the State or the Commonwealth, whether passed before or after the coming into operation of this Act.

[Section 9 amended: No. 57 of 1997 s. 112(2).]

10.Certain rights as a public servant preserved
  • (1)

    Where the Solicitor‑General was, immediately before his appointment as such, an officer of the Public Service of the State — 

    • (a)

      he retains his existing and accruing rights and in particular his rights, if any, under the Superannuation and Family Benefits Act 1938 1; and

    • (b)

      for the purpose of determining those rights, his service as Solicitor‑General shall be taken into account as if it were service in the Public Service of the State.

  • [(2)

    deleted]

[Section 10 amended: No. 69 of 1979 s. 3; No. 29 of 2006 s. 9.]

[11, 12. Deleted: No. 29 of 2006 s. 10.]

13.Attorney General may delegate to Solicitor‑General
  • (1)

    The Attorney General may, either generally or otherwise as provided by the instrument of delegation, by writing under his hand delegate to the Solicitor‑General all or any of his powers and functions under all or any of the laws of the State, except this power of delegation.

  • (2)

    A power or function delegated under this section may be exercised or performed by the Solicitor‑General in accordance with the instrument of delegation.

  • (3)

    A delegation under this section is revocable at will and does not prevent the exercise of a power or performance of a function by the Attorney General.

[Section 13 amended: No. 57 of 1997 s. 112(2).]

14.Transitional matters for Solicitor‑General Amendment Act 2006
  • (1)

    In this section —

amended Act means this Act as amended by the Solicitor‑General Amendment Act 2006;

current Solicitor‑General means the Solicitor‑General holding office immediately before 18 July 2006;

former Act means this Act as in force immediately before 18 July 2006.

  • (2)

    This section applies if the current Solicitor‑General is appointed under section 3(1) of the amended Act and section 25 of the Interpretation Act 1984.

  • (3)

    Despite section 2 of the Solicitor‑General Amendment Act 2006, that Act is taken to have come into operation on 18 July 2006 immediately after the retirement of the current Solicitor‑General.

  • (4)

    Sections 4, 4A and 10 of the amended Act do not apply in relation to the current Solicitor‑General in respect of any period for which he has held or holds office whenever occurring.

  • (5)

    Sections 4, 10, 11 and 12 of the former Act continue to apply in relation to the current Solicitor‑General in respect of all periods for which he has held or holds office whenever occurring as if the aggregate of those periods were one continuous period of service.

  • (6)

    The retirement of the current Solicitor‑General referred to in subsection (3) is not retirement for the purposes of section 11 of the former Act.

[Section 14 inserted: No. 29 of 2006 s. 11.]

Notes

This is a compilation of the Solicitor-General Act 1969 and includes amendments made by other written laws 2. For provisions that have come into operation, and for information about any reprints, see the compilation table. For provisions that have not yet come into operation see the uncommenced provisions table.

Compilation table

Short title

Number and year

Assent

Commencement

Solicitor‑General Act 1969

38 of 1969

19 May 1969

19 May 1969

Acts Amendment (Judicial Salaries and Pensions) Act 1976 Pt. II

125 of 1976

2 Dec 1976

1 Jan 1977 (see s. 2)

Solicitor-General Act Amendment Act 1979

69 of 1979

21 Nov 1979

19 May 1969 (see s. 2)

Financial Administration Legislation Amendment Act 1993 s. 11

6 of 1993

27 Aug 1993

1 Jul 1993 (see s. 2(1))

Financial Legislation Amendment Act 1996 s. 64

49 of 1996

25 Oct 1996

25 Oct 1996 (see s. 2(1))

Statutes (Repeals and Minor Amendments) Act 1997 s. 112

57 of 1997

15 Dec 1997

15 Dec 1997 (see s. 2(1))

Reprint of the Solicitor-General Act 1969 as at 1 Nov 2002 (includes amendments listed above)

Acts Amendment (Equality of Status) Act 2003 Pt. 54

28 of 2003

22 May 2003

1 Jul 2003 (see s. 2 and Gazette 30 Jun 2003 p. 2579)

Acts Amendment and Repeal (Courts and Legal Practice) Act 2003 s. 118

65 of 2003

4 Dec 2003

1 Jan 2004 (see s. 2 and Gazette 30 Dec 2003 p. 5722)

Solicitor-General Amendment Act 2006 s. 4‑11

29 of 2006

30 Jun 2006

18 Jul 2006 (see s. 2)

Reprint 2: The Solicitor-General Act 1969 as at 18 Jan 2008 (includes amendments listed above)

Legal Profession Act 2008 s. 705

21 of 2008

27 May 2008

1 Mar 2009 (see s. 2(b) and Gazette 27 Feb 2009 p. 511)

Acts Amendment (Bankruptcy) Act 2009 s. 82

18 of 2009

16 Sep 2009

17 Sep 2009 (see s. 2(b))

Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2022 s. 424

9 of 2022

14 Apr 2022

1 Jul 2022 (see s. 2(c) and SL 2022/113 cl. 2)

Uncommenced provisions table

To view the text of the uncommenced provisions see Acts as passed on the WA Legislation website.

Short title

Number and year

Assent

Commencement

State Superannuation (Transitional and Consequential Provisions) Act 2000 s. 64

43 of 2000

2 Nov 2000

To be proclaimed (see s. 2(2))

Other notes

1 The Superannuation and Family Benefits Act 1938 was repealed by the State Superannuation Act 2000 s. 39, but its provisions continue to apply to and in relation to certain schemes because of the State Superannuation (Transitional and Consequential Provisions) Act 2000 s. 26.

2 The amendment to s. 4 in the Financial Legislation Amendment and Repeal Act 2006 s. 4 is not included because the section it sought to amend was replaced by the Solicitor‑General Amendment Act 2006 s. 6.

Defined terms

[This is a list of terms defined and the provisions where they are defined. The list is not part of the law.]

Defined term Provision(s)

amended Act.............................................................................................................. 14(1)

Attorney General......................................................................................................... 2(1)

current Solicitor-General......................................................................................... 14(1)

former Act.................................................................................................................. 14(1)

legal experience........................................................................................................... 3(3)

remuneration................................................................................................................ 4(1)

Solicitor-General........................................................................................... 2(1) and (2)

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