What is "attorney general"

n. A major government officer throughout the English-speaking world, generally responsible for interpreting the law for the head of government and executive department and functioning as chief prosecutor, with the ability to bring civil and criminal actions directly.

1. n. the chief law officer of a country or state

2. the person who holds the position of secretary of the Justice Department; "Edmund Randolph was the first Attorney General, appointed by President Washington" [syn: United States Attorney General, US Attorney General]

3. the position of the head of the Justice Department and the chief law enforcement officer of the United States; "the post of Attorney General was created in 1789" [syn: Attorney General of the United States]

In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (pluralized as attorneys general or attorneys-general, as "general" is a postpositive adjective) is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions they may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement, prosecutions or even responsibility for legal affairs generally. In practice, the extent to which the attorney-general personally provides legal advice to the government varies between jurisdictions, and even between individual office-holders within the same jurisdiction, often depending on the level and nature of the office-holder's prior legal experience.

The term was originally used to refer to any person who holds a general power of attorney to represent a principal in all matters. In the common law tradition, anyone who represents the state, especially in criminal prosecutions, is such an attorney. Although a government may designate some official as the permanent attorney general, anyone who comes to represent the state in the same way may, in the past, be referred to as such, even if only for a particular case. Today, however, in most jurisdictions the term is largely reserved as a title of the permanently appointed attorney general of the state, sovereign or other member of the royal family.

Civil law jurisdictions have similar offices, who may be variously called "procurators", " advocates general", "public attorneys", and other titles. Many of these offices also use "attorney general" or "attorney-general" as the English translation of the title, although because of different historical provenance the nature of such offices is usually different from that of attorneys-general in common law jurisdictions.

The Attorney General of the Isle of Man has an ex officio seat in the Legislative Council and is the Government's top legal adviser.

The Attorney General is a Crown officer, rather than a member of the Isle of Man Government. He is appointed by the Queen on the advice of the UK's Secretary of State for Justice.

Her Majesty's Attorney General in the Isle of Man is currently John Quinn, holding this post in an acting capacity whilst Stephen Harding is suspended. He was charged with perjury and committing acts against public justice, but after 2 trials in which the juries were unable to agree a verdict, it was announced that no further criminal proceedings would be taken.

The position of Attorney General was established in the Kingdom of Tonga in 1988. From 1988 to 2009, the Attorney General jointly held the office of Minister of Justice.

The current Attorney General is Neil Adsett, since 16 January 2012. He "has been a barrister and solicitor for over 30 years", and had recently been involved in Tonga's constitutional and electoral reforms. He is expected to serve for four years. He succeeded Barrie Sweetman, a Fiji lawyer who had served in an interim capacity during the previous six months.

The Tongan government in 2010 defined the Attorney General as "Chief Legal Advisor to Government", with the following responsibilities:

Following constitutional reforms, applicable as from Adsett's appointment in January 2012, the Attorney General is reportedly

As of August 2011, the Kingdom has had at least seven Attorneys General:

• Tevita Tupou
• ʻAisea Taumoepeau
• Siaosi ʻAho
• ʻAlisi Afeaki Taumoepeau (wife of ʻAisea Taumoepeau; 2006-2009)
• John Cauchi (2009-2010)
• Samiu Vaipulu
• Barrie Sweetman (interim)
• Neil Adsett

John Cauchi, appointed in May 2009, was the first Attorney General not to hold the portfolio of Justice Minister. He was also the first non-Tongan to hold the office, being an Australian citizen. He resigned the position on 30 April 2010. It is not currently clear how many people held the position between Cauchi's resignation and Sweetman's appointment. In early 2011, the CIA Factbook stated the Attorney General was ʻAsipeli ʻAminiasi Kefu. However this may have been an error, as other sources described Kefu as the Solicitor General. Minister for Justice Samiu Vaipulu was the Attorney General just prior to Sweetman's appointment; the latter thus disassociated the two positions, which had once again been combined in a single person.

Matangi Tonga has noted that three of the country's Attorneys General (namely Tupou and both Taumoepeaus) "have been told to resign".