About us
The Office of the Parliamentary Counsel is a team of government lawyers who specialise in drafting legislation and work with departments throughout the legislative process.
The Office of the Parliamentary Counsel is a team of government lawyers specialising in drafting legislation. We work with departments from the early development of legislative proposals through the parliamentary process.
Responsibilities
We are responsible for:
- drafting government Bills
- advising departments on parliamentary rules and procedures relevant to government legislation
- reviewing legislative provisions that amend Acts where this falls within our remit
- advising the Government on legislative drafting and related legal and constitutional matters
Priorities
Our priorities are:
- helping the Government prepare and take its legislative programme through Parliament
- providing professional leadership and training in legislative drafting
- working with colleagues across government to improve the clarity and quality of legislation
- maintaining links with others engaged in legislative drafting and the study of law
Good law
We aim to produce legislation that is:
- necessary
- clear
- coherent
- effective
- accessible
Who we are
The Office is part of the Cabinet Office and provides a specialist legislative drafting service to ministers and departments.