Theodore Huckle QC

Mr Huckle was appointed Counsel General by Her Majesty the Queen on Friday 10th June 2011.  He is the first person who is not an Assembly Member to hold the office of Counsel General to the Welsh Government.

Mr Huckle was born and brought up in Blaenavon. He attended:

• Jones West Monmouth Grammar School, Pontypool 
• Jesus College, Cambridge - B.A., LL.M. (International), M.A. (all Cantab.)
• Titular Exhibitioner of Jesus, Cambridge

Mr Huckle was called to the Bar in 1985, and has always lived and practised as a barrister in Wales. In 2008 he was instrumental in establishing Civitas Law chambers as the first specialist civil law chambers in Wales, and in early 2011 he was the first member of Civitas Law chambers (formed 2008) to take Silk and is the only barrister in a Welsh chambers appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2011.

As a member of Civitas Law Chambers, Mr Huckle’s practice profile included personal injury, especially occupational illness/disease litigation, spinal, head injury and clinical disputes; human rights and commercial matters including employment, fraud and professional negligence. Mr Huckle is also an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Group-accredited mediator.

Mr. Huckle will attend Cabinet at the invitation of the First Minister.

The Counsel General is responsible for:

• The Counsel General’s statutory responsibilities under Government of Wales Act 2006. The main ones are:
  • Like the Welsh Ministers and the First Minister, the Counsel General may make appropriate representations about any matter affecting Wales. (s 62);
  • If the Counsel General considers it appropriate to promote or protect the public interest, he may bring, defend or appear in legal proceedings, in the name of the Counsel General. However, the proceedings must relate to matters in respect of which Welsh Ministers or the Counsel General have functions (s 67);
  • The Counsel General may refer to the Supreme Court a question of whether a provision of an Assembly Bill is within the Assembly’s legislative competence (s 112);
  • The Counsel General may bring legal proceedings to have a “devolution issue” decided, or may defend any such proceedings brought by other Law Officers in the UK. “Devolution issue” is defined in paragraph 1(1) of Schedule 9 to GOWA 2006. It includes (among other things) questions of whether an Assembly Act is within competence or whether the Welsh Ministers have particular functions. The Counsel General can also require devolution issues to be referred to the Supreme Court for a decision;
• Providing legal advice to, representing and overseeing the representation of the Welsh Government in legal proceedings;
• Holding meetings and discussions with other Law Officers;
• Holding meetings and discussions with the judiciary, members of the legal profession and others involved in the administration of justice;
• Improving the accessibility of devolved legislation in Wales for the legal profession and other members of the public, including considering the future consolidation of existing legislation;
• Responding to Law Commission and other (for example, UK Government) proposals or consultations where appropriate;
• Facilitating public debate on whether there should be a separate Welsh legal Jurisdiction.

Statutory Responsibilities

It should be noted that the Counsel General also has functions under other legislation.

Legal advice and representation to the Welsh Government, and
Discussions with Law Officers

There are constraints on the Counsel General’s ability to answer questions about these matters.

Consultations about proposed changes to the law

In many cases these will be considered and responded to by the Minister with portfolio responsibility for the subject area to which the law relates.