Watchdog to assess whether ministers are entitled to keep Iraq legal advice secret

Friday, 25 March 2005 12:00 AM

An independent watchdog is examining whether ministers are entitled to keep the Attorney General's war advice secret.

Information Commissioner Richard Thomas said he had received a number of complaints from individuals and newspapers about the Government's stance.

"We will be going through a process of examining those complaints," he said.

Ministers have refused applications under the new Freedom of Information Act to publish the legal advice of Attorney General Lord Goldsmith QC.

Mr Thomas, who oversees the Freedom of Information Act, will rule on the Government's claim that the public interest is in keeping the advice secret rather than making it public.

The Government is being placed under increasing pressure to disclose the legal advice it received in the lead up to the Iraq war public amid claims that Lord Goldsmith changed his mind over the legality of the invasion.

A resignation letter from the Foreign Office's former deputy legal adviser, Elizabeth Wilmshurst, was recently released, revealing that she quit because she believed that the war was illegal.

A censored part of the letter, obtained by Channel 4 under the Act, suggested that Lord Goldsmith QC originally believed a new UN resolution was needed to make the war legal.

However, on March 17th, the Attorney General said the invasion was legal under a previous UN resolution.

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has said that publishing the advice would have "very grave" implications for good government.

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