|
Delegate Gleason asked you unless I mis-
understood it.
I understood his question was whether or
not the provisions of the very last sentence
of this proposed recommendation, that is
that the attorney general shall upon re-
quest give his opinion to any house of the
General Assembly or to any other officer,
agency or department of state, was in the
present Constitution and I understood your
answer to be that it was.
DELEGATE MORGAN: It is.
THE CHAIRMAN: Are you referring to
the last sentence of the second section,
Delegate Bamberger?
DELEGATE BAMBERGER: Yes, I will
read what is in the existing Constitution :
"And he shall give his opinion in writing
whenever required by the General Assem-
bly or either branch thereof, the governor,
comptroller, or any state's attorney on any
legal matter pending before them or either
of them."
Then there is some other language in
here which I could not find at the present
time, but this is generally the language of
the present Constitution.
Now, this does authorize the presiding
officer of either house of the General As-
sembly to ask the attorney general for his
opinion which is not in the present Con-
stitution.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Bamberger.
DELEGATE BAMBERGER: Is it not
true that this does make at least one es-
sential change. Under the present Consti-
tution and law, the requirement that the
attorney general shall give opinions to the
various departments of the state is a
matter of statutory law, made by the Gen-
eral Assembly, in which they have provided
that the attorney general shall be the legal
advisor for some but not all departments
of the State. What the Committee now
proposes is that the attorney general as a
matter of constitutional law shall give his
advice to all departments of the State.
The provision of the Constitution which
you just read says: "The attorney general
shall give his opinion to the General As-
sembly, the governor, the comptroller, the
state's attorney," but it is the statute,
specifically section 2, of Article 32-A, and
sections 5 and 12 in which the General As-
sembly has said which departments of the
State shall look to the attorney general
for advice.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Morgan.
|
DELEGATE MORGAN: I think you are
correct.
THE CHAIRMAN: Are there any fur-
ther questions, Delegate Bamberger?
DELEGATE BAMBERGER: Section 3
of Article V of the present Constitution
gives both the governor and the General
Assembly the right to direct the attorney
general to assist any state's attorney in a
criminal case or to commence the prosecu-
tion of a criminal case.
In other words, as I understand that
provision, the General Assembly or the
governor can, in effect, move the attorney
general into the place of the state's at-
torney in a prosecuting and criminal action
at the trial level.
Is that power provided for or the right
of the General Assembly to establish that
power, in the Committee's draft?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Morgan.
DELEGATE MORGAN: There is no
question about it.
Then the language "shall have such
other powers and duties with respect to
civil and criminal cases or proceedings, and
with respect to other matters, as may be
prescribed by law."
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Bamberger.
DELEGATE BAMBERGER: Then to
button that up, the statement on the second
page of Committee Recommendation EB-2
beginning on lines 2 which says that the
attorney general has functions in criminal
cases at the appellate level and in courts
of the United States is not meant to be
exclusive?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Morgan.
DELEGATE MORGAN: It is not.
THE CHAIRMAN: Do you have a fur-
ther question, Delegate Bamberger?
DELEGATE BAMBERGER: One more.
Under the present Constitution, the Gen-
eral Assembly may provide different coun-
sel for some agencies of the State, spe-
cifically now the Public Service Commis-
sion, which is an agency of the State and
his its own general counsel and does not
look to the attorney general for advice.
Does the Committee's draft prohibit the
General Assembly from making the same
provision for any particular department in
the future?
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Morgan.
|
