legal costs reserve drawdowns

Summary

The requester sought clarification on legal costs reserve drawdowns in the Isle of Man national accounts amid allegations of unlawful legal support schemes. The Attorney General's Chambers disclosed that the expenditure was £118,000 for the year ended 31 March 2021, primarily for external counsel in criminal proceedings and statutory representation for children in family court.

Key Facts

• The Attorney General's Chambers expenditure on extraordinary legal casework was £118,000 (rounded) for the year ended 31 March 2021.
• £110,129 of the total was for unexpected expenditure on external Counsel for criminal proceedings requiring specialist support.
• The remaining funds were used for the Attorney's statutory responsibility to ensure children are represented in Family Court and Care Proceedings.
• No claims were made in relation to Employment Tribunals or other Civil Court proceedings.
• The information was sourced from Table 8.14 on page 108 of the Isle of Man Government Detailed Accounts.

Data Disclosed

• £118,000
• £110,129
• 31 March 2021
• Table 8.14
• page 108
• 2022-01-06
• 2022-01-12
• 2176274

Original Request

Please clarify the legal costs reserve drawdowns in the latest national accounts given a formal complaint on an unethical and what appears to be an unlawful free uncapped legal support scheme (champerty and maintenance rules without a single legal identity) and given wilful or reckless encouragement of cover ups and worse still cover ups of cover ups with no perceived department or career downsides to passively turning a blind eye or actively aiding and abetting could constitute historical incitement, conspiracy and attempts to pervert the course of justice and/or encouraging and assisting offences against public justice.

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Attorney General's Chambers 2nd floor Belgravia House Circular Road, Douglas Isle of Man, IM1 1AE Telephone: (01624) 685452 E-mail: attgen@gov.im

Our ref: 2176274 12 January 2022

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 6 January 2022 and which states:

"Please clarify the legal costs reserve drawdowns in the latest national accounts given a formal complaint on an unethical and what appears to be an unlawful free uncapped legal support scheme (champerty and maintenance rules without a single legal identity) and given wilful or reckless encouragement of cover ups and worse still cover ups of cover ups with no perceived department or career downsides to passively turning a blind eye or actively aiding and abetting could constitute historical incitement, conspiracy and attempts to pervert the course of justice and/or encouraging and assisting offences against public justice."

Our response to your request is as follows:- The figures relating to the AGC in Table 8.14 on page 108 of the most recently published Isle of Man Government Detailed Accounts, which are for the year ended 31 March 2021, show that the Attorney General’s Chambers expenditure on extraordinary legal casework (as described at note 1 on that page), was £118,000 (rounded) in relation to Prosecution Costs. I can clarify that the figure relates to a sum of £110,129 in respect of unexpected expenditure in paying for external Counsel for criminal proceedings where specialist legal support was required. The remaining sum was in respect of Mr Attorney’s statutory responsibility to ensure that children are appropriately represented in Family Court and Care Proceedings. In respect of the comments within your request I can confirm that nothing was claimed in relation to Employment Tribunals or other Civil Court proceedings. Please quote the reference number 2176274 in any future communications.

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