Stephen Laws
Encyclopedia
Sir Stephen Charles Laws, KCB
, QC, is a British lawyer and Civil Servant who has served since 2006 as the First Parliamentary Counsel.
As head of the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel
, Laws is responsible for the drafting of all the government legislation which is laid before Parliament
. Alongside the Treasury Solicitor and the Director of Public Prosecutions
, Laws is one of the three most senior lawyers in the Civil Service.
Laws undertook his LLB at Bristol University, graduating in 1972, and is thus the first non-Oxbridge
graduate to hold the office. After a year lecturing at Bristol, Laws was called to the Bar
at Middle Temple
, and following pupillage
and a brief period practising, he joined the Home Office
in 1975 as a legal assistant. He transferred to the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel the next year, and excepting two secondments to the Law Commission
, has stayed there since, rising first to Deputy Parliamentary Counsel in 1985, and then Parliamentary Counsel in 1991. He replaced Sir Geoffrey Bowman as First Parliamentary Counsel in 2006.
Laws was appointed the CB
in the 1996 New Year Honours
.
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
, QC, is a British lawyer and Civil Servant who has served since 2006 as the First Parliamentary Counsel.
As head of the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel
Office of the Parliamentary Counsel (United Kingdom)
The Office of the Parliamentary Counsel is responsible for drafting all government Bills that are introduced to Parliament. Established in 1869, the OPC has been part of various departments and is currently part of the Cabinet Office...
, Laws is responsible for the drafting of all the government legislation which is laid before Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
. Alongside the Treasury Solicitor and the Director of Public Prosecutions
Director of Public Prosecutions
The Director of Public Prosecutions is the officer charged with the prosecution of criminal offences in several criminal jurisdictions around the world...
, Laws is one of the three most senior lawyers in the Civil Service.
Laws undertook his LLB at Bristol University, graduating in 1972, and is thus the first non-Oxbridge
Oxbridge
Oxbridge is a portmanteau of the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge in England, and the term is now used to refer to them collectively, often with implications of perceived superior social status...
graduate to hold the office. After a year lecturing at Bristol, Laws was called to the Bar
Call to the bar
The Call to the Bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party, and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received a "call to the bar"...
at Middle Temple
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
, and following pupillage
Pupillage
A pupillage, in England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland, is the barrister's equivalent of the training contract that a solicitor undertakes...
and a brief period practising, he joined the Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
in 1975 as a legal assistant. He transferred to the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel the next year, and excepting two secondments to the Law Commission
Law Commission (England and Wales)
In England and Wales the Law Commission is an independent body set up by Parliament by the Law Commissions Act 1965 in 1965 to keep the law of England and Wales under review and to recommend reforms. The organisation is headed by a Chairman and four Law Commissioners...
, has stayed there since, rising first to Deputy Parliamentary Counsel in 1985, and then Parliamentary Counsel in 1991. He replaced Sir Geoffrey Bowman as First Parliamentary Counsel in 2006.
Laws was appointed the CB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
in the 1996 New Year Honours
1996 New Year Honours
- Life Peers :* Sir David Howe Gillmore, GCMG – former Head of Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service.* Sir Robert Kilpatrick, CBE – lately President, General Medical Council.* Dick Taverne, QC – President, PRIMA Europe Limited.- Privy Counsellors :...
.