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- In most common law jurisdictions, the Attorney General or Attorney-General is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions may in addition have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.
- In Australia the Attorney-General is the chief law officer of the Crown and a member of the Cabinet. The Attorney-General is the minister responsible for legal affairs, national and public security and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.
- The Australian states each have an Attorney-General, who is a state minister with similar responsibilities to the federal minister with respect to state law.
- Functions of the state and federal Attorneys-General include the administration of the selection of persons for nomination to judicial posts, and authorising prosecutions.
- In normal circumstances the prosecutorial powers of the Attorney-General are exercised by the Director of Public Prosecutions and staff, however the Attorney-General maintains formal control, including the power to initiate and terminate public prosecutions and take over private prosecutions.
- Statutory criminal law provides that prosecutions for certain offences require the individual consent of the Attorney-General. This is generally for offences whose illegality is of a somewhat controversial nature, or where there is perceived to be a significant risk that prosecutions of a political nature may be embarked upon.
- The Attorney-General also generally has the power to issue certificates legally conclusive of certain facts (e.g. that the revelation of certain matters in court proceedings might constitute a risk to national security); the facts stated in such certificates must be accepted by the courts and cannot legally be disputed by any parties.
- The Attorney-General also has the power to issue a nolle prosequi with respect to a case, which authoritatively determines that the state (in whose name prosecutions are brought) does not wish to prosecute the case, so preventing any person from doing so.
