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ANNEX B
GUIDE TO COLLECTIVE DECISION MAKING
CONSULTATION WITH THE LAW OFFICERS
1. The Law Officers must be consulted in good time before the Government is committed to critical decisions involving legal considerations. The opinion of the Law Officers should normally be obtained through a reference from the Scottish Government Legal Directorate.
2. It will normally be appropriate to consult the Law Officers in cases where:
(a) The legal consequences of proposed action might have important repercussions in the foreign, European Union or domestic fields;
(b) A legal adviser in the Scottish Government has doubts about the legality or constitutional propriety of proposed legislation or Government action, particularly where it concerns any devolution issue within the meaning of paragraph 1 of Schedule 6 to the Scotland Act 1998;
(c) Ministers, or their officials, wish to have the advice of the Law Officers on questions involving legal considerations before proposals are referred to the Cabinet or to a Cabinet Sub-Committee; or
(d) There is a particular legal difficulty that may raise sensitive policy issues.
Cabinet Secretariat
2008
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