Law Officer (Civil Law)

As head of an independent department (1856-1950)

The position of Crown Solicitor was created in 1856,^[3] during the early decades of the colony's existence. Its holder was paid a salary of £150 per annum in 1859, an amount that was doubled to £300 in 1860 (equivalent to £32,658 in 2025) by the enactment of the Civil List Ordinance by the Legislative Council.^[4][5] By 1911, the Crown Solicitor's salary had risen to £900 per year, equivalent to about £92,202 in 2025.^[6] The rise had come in part due to the Secretary of State's decision in 1910 to make the Crown Solicitor a full-time role, as opposed to appointing lawyers who would simultaneously continue in private practice, as had been done since 1856.^[7][8] A fixed annual salary of £1350 was introduced in 1937.^[9]

The Crown Solicitor's Office was separate from the Attorney General's Chambers; the two departments would not be brought together until 1950, when the Legal Officers Ordinance was enacted.^[3] Assistant Crown Solicitors from the Crown Solicitor's office would often be seconded to the Treasury, Supreme Court Registry and the Registrar General's Department.^[10][11][12] Contemporary references to the Crown Solicitor's department during Legislative Council debates suggest that the department was routinely understaffed, with some cases briefed out to outside counsel in order to lighten the load.^[13][14]

The Crown Solicitor's powers were later codified in 1912 by the Crown Solicitors Ordinance, with the holder of the office responsible for being the government's solicitor in proceedings before the courts, with the power to conduct prosecutions at the Criminal Sessions or before the Full Court.^[15] The Ordinance also enabled the Crown Solicitor to give advice to the naval and military authorities with the consent of the governor.^[16] Despite the title, both barristers and solicitors were eligible to be appointed as Crown Solicitor or as his deputy, though most holders of the office have been solicitors. Upon the opening of the Supreme Court Building in 1912, the Crown Solicitor's offices were relocated to the premises from its previous location in the old courthouse in Central,^[17] sharing the second floor with the Attorney General's Department.^[18] The Crown Solicitor's office was recorded as having 7 people in its employ in 1925,^[19] with $50,322 set down for the department's personal emoluments in the 1931 Estimates.^[20]

As head of the Civil Division of the Legal Department (1950-1997)

Until the creation of the Legal Department in 1950, which merged the offices of the Attorney General, Crown Solicitor, and Legal Draftsman,^[21] there was no centralised legal department that oversaw all of the government's legal matters. The legal affairs of the colony were discharged by lawyers who were attached to, among others, the Attorney General's Department, the Crown Solicitor's Department, and the Registrar General's Department. The Crown Solicitor became one of several law officers under the Attorney General in the new Legal Department, alongside the Solicitor General, Director of Public Prosecutions and Law Draftsman.^[22]