Western Australia Solicitor-General Act 1969 Western Australia Solicitor-General Act 1969 CONTENTS 1. Short title 1 2. Terms used in this Act 1 3. Solicitor-General, appointment and qualifications 1 4. Remuneration 2 4A. Leave and other conditions of service 2 5. Resignation 3 6. Private practice prohibited except with approval 3 7. Removal from office 3 8. Acting Solicitor-General 3 9. Functions 4 10. Certain rights as a public servant preserved 5 13. Attorney General may delegate to Solicitor-General 5 14. Transitional matters for Solicitor-General Amendment Act 2006 5 Notes Compilation table 7 Provisions that have not come into operation 8 Defined Terms Western Australia 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 1. 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 by 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 an Australian lawyer and has had not less than 8 years' legal experience. (3) In subsection (2) - Australian lawyer has the meaning given in the Legal Profession Act 2008 section 3; legal experience means - (a) standing and practice as an Australian legal practitioner within the meaning of that term in the Legal Profession Act 2008 section 3; 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 by No. 65 of 2003 s. 118; No. 29 of 2006 s. 5; No. 21 of 2008 s. 705.] 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 by 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 by 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 by 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 by 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 by 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 by 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 2; 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 by No. 69 of 1979 s. 3; No. 29 of 2006 s. 9.] [11, 12. Deleted by 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 by 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 by No. 29 of 2006 s. 11.] Notes 1 This is a compilation of the Solicitor-General Act 1969 and includes the amendments made by the other written laws referred to in the following table 1a, 3. The table also contains information about any reprint. Compilation table |Short title |Number |Assent |Commencement | | |and year| | | |Solicitor-General|38 of |19 May 1|19 May 1969 | |Act 1969 |1969 |969 | | |Acts Amendment |125 of |2 Dec 19|1 Jan 1977 (see | |(Judicial |1976 |76 |s. 2) | |Salaries and | | | | |Pensions) | | | | |Act 1976 Pt. II | | | | |Solicitor-General|69 of |21 Nov 1|19 May 1969 | |Act Amendment Act|1979 |979 |(see s. 2) | |1979 | | | | |Financial |6 of |27 Aug 1|1 Jul 1993 (see | |Administration |1993 |993 |s. 2(1)) | |Legislation | | | | |Amendment | | | | |Act 1993 s. 11 | | | | |Financial |49 of |25 Oct 1|25 Oct 1996 (see | |Legislation |1996 |996 |s. 2(1)) | |Amendment | | | | |Act 1996 s. 64 | | | | |Statutes (Repeals|57 of |15 Dec 1|15 Dec 1997 (see | |and Minor |1997 |997 |s. 2(1)) | |Amendments) | | | | |Act 1997 s. 112 | | | | |Reprint of the Solicitor-General Act 1969 as at | |1 Nov 2002 (includes amendments listed above) | |Acts Amendment |28 of |22 May 2|1 Jul 2003 (see | |(Equality of |2003 |003 |s. 2 and Gazette | |Status) Act 2003 | | |30 Jun 2003 | |Pt. 54 | | |p. 2579) | |Acts Amendment |65 of |4 Dec 20|1 Jan 2004 (see | |and Repeal |2003 |03 |s. 2 and Gazette | |(Courts and Legal| | |30 Dec 2003 | |Practice) | | |p. 5722) | |Act 2003 s. 118 | | | | |Solicitor-General|29 of |30 Jun 2|18 Jul 2006 (see | |Amendment |2006 |006 |s. 2) | |Act 2006 s. 4-11 | | | | |Reprint 2: The Solicitor-General Act 1969 as at | |18 Jan 2008 (includes amendments listed above) | |Legal Profession |21 of |27 May 2|1 Mar 2009 (see | |Act 2008 s. 705 |2008 |008 |s. 2(b) and Gazette| | | | |27 Feb 2009 p. 511)| |Acts Amendment |18 of |16 Sep |17 Sep 2009 (see | |(Bankruptcy) Act |2009 |2009 |s. 2(b)) | |2009 s. 82 | | | | 1a On the date as at which this compilation was prepared, provisions referred to in the following table had not come into operation and were therefore not included in this compilation. For the text of the provisions see the endnotes referred to in the table. Provisions that have not come into operation |Short title |Number |Assent |Commencement | | |and year| | | |State |43 of |2 Nov 20|To be proclaimed | |Superannuation |2000 |00 |(see s. 2(2)) | |(Transitional and| | | | |Consequential | | | | |Provisions) | | | | |Act 2000 s. 64 4 | | | | 2 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. 3 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. 4 On the date as at which this compilation was prepared, the State Superannuation (Transitional and Consequential Provisions) Act 2000 s. 64 had not come into operation. It reads as follows: " 64. Solicitor-General Act 1969 amended Section 10 of the Solicitor-General Act 1969 is amended as follows: (a) in subsection (1)(a) by deleting "and in particular his rights, if any, under the Superannuation and Family Benefits Act 1938"; (b) by repealing subsection (2). ". 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) Australian lawyer 3(2) current Solicitor-General 14(1) former Act 14(1) legal experience 3(2) remuneration 4(1) Solicitor-General 2(1) and (2)