Peter Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith

Infobox_Officeholder
honorific-prefix = The Right Honourable
name = The Lord Goldsmith
honorific-suffix =
PC, QC


imagesize = 200px
office = Attorney General for England and Wales
primeminister = Tony Blair
predecessor = The Lord Williams of Mostyn
successor = The Baroness Scotland of Asthal
term_start = 11 June 2001
term_end = 27 June 2007
birth_date = Birth date and age|1950|01|5|df=yes
birth_place = Liverpool
death_date =
death_place =
party = Labour

Peter Henry Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith, PC, QC (born 5 January 1950), is a former Attorney General of England and Wales. On 22 June 2007, Goldsmith announced his resignation which took effect on 27 June 2007, the same day that prime minister, Tony Blair, stepped down. His successor is Patricia Scotland, Baroness Scotland of Asthal. Lord Goldsmith was the longest serving Labour Attorney General. He currently works for US law firm Debevoise & Plimpton as head of its European litigation practice. [cite web
last = Legal Week
title = Debevoise coup with Lord Goldsmith hire
date = 27 September 2007
url = http://www.legalweek.com/Articles/1055663/Debevoise+coup+with+Lord+Goldsmith+hire.html
accessdate = 2007-09-28 ]

Biography

Goldsmith was born in Liverpool and educated at Quarry Bank School (now Calderstones School) before reading law at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge and University College London. He was called to the Bar at Gray's Inn in 1972, practising from Fountain Court Chambers in London. He became a Queen's Counsel in 1987 and a Deputy High Court Judge in 1994 and he was elected the youngest ever Chairman of the Bar of England and Wales in 1995. He was created a Labour Life Peer in 1999, as Baron Goldsmith, of Allerton in the County of Merseyside. He was appointed Her Majesty's Attorney General in June 2001. One of his first acts was to discuss breaches of the injunction against publishing the whereabouts of the offenders in the James Bulger murder case. He became a Privy Counsellor in 2002.

Lord Goldsmith has also held a number of posts in international legal organisations, including Council Member of the International Bar Association (IBA) and of the Union Internationale des Avocats. From 1998 until his appointment as Attorney General he was co-Chairman of the IBA’s Human Rights Institute. Between 1997 and 2000 he was Chairman of the Financial Reporting Review Panel, a non-departmental public body responsible for enforcing financial reporting standards. In 1997 he was elected to membership of the American Law Institute and made a member of the Paris Bar.

In 1996 he founded the Bar Pro Bono Unit of which he was Chairman until 2000 and remains President. He was the Prime Minister's Personal Representative to the Convention for the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

In 2006, Goldsmith gave a speech at the Royal United Services Institute, calling for the closure of the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay. Goldsmith called it a "symbol of injustice", and said that it did not respect the rights of liberty or freedom. [cite web
last = BBC News
title = UK calls for Guantanamo closure
date = 10 May 2006
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4759317.stm
accessdate = 2007-06-23 ]

On 17 February 2007, the Mail on Sunday reported that Goldsmith, who is married, had been having an affair with Kim Hollis QC. [cite web
last = Mail on Sunday
title = Another law chief admits affair with barrister
date = 18 February 2007
url = http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=436798&in_page_id=1770&ico=Homepage&icl=TabModule&icc=NEWS&ct=5
accessdate = 2007-06-23 ]

In 2007, Goldsmith was accused of attempting to cover up the BAE-Saudi corruption case by ordering the Serious Organised Crime Agency to call off its ongoing investigation into the matter, arguing that it might "compromise national security." [cite web
last = The Independent
title = Goldsmith denies cover-up over BAE's alleged Saudi fund
date = 9 June 2007
url = http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2636214.ece
accessdate = 2007-06-23 ] [cite web
last = The Guardian
title = New pressure on Goldsmith after cabinet inquiry call
date = 11 June 2007
url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/baefiles/story/0,,2099991,00.html
accessdate = 2007-06-23 ]

Occupation of Iraq controversy

The nature of Lord Goldsmith's legal advice to the Government over the legality of the 2003 invasion of Iraq was a significant political issue at the time.

The Government turned down repeated calls to break with tradition and have the advice made public. Lord Goldsmith's original memo written on 7 March 2003, was eventually leaked to the press, which led to its official publication on 28 April 2005. [cite web
last = BBC News
title = Iraq resolution 1441 advice - original memo
date = 7 March 2003
format = pdf
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/28_04_05_attorney_general.pdf
accessdate = 2007-06-23 ] In the memo, Lord Goldsmith discussed whether the use of force in Iraq could legally be justified by Iraq's 'material breach', as established in UN Security Council Resolution 1441, of its ceasefire obligations as imposed by Security Council Resolution 687 at the end of the First Gulf War. Lord Goldsmith concluded that 'a reasonable case can be made that resolution 1441 is capable in principle of reviving the authorisation [of the use of force] in Resolution 678 without a further resolution.' However, Lord Goldsmith did concede that 'a court might well conclude that operative paragraphs 4 and 12 do require a further Council decision in order to revive the authorisation.'

In his final advice to the Government, written on 17 March 2003, Lord Goldsmith stated that the use of force in Iraq was lawful. [cite web
last = The Guardian
title = A case for war - Lord Goldsmith's published advice on the legal basis for the use of force against Iraq
date = 17 March 2003
url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1471659,00.html
accessdate = 2007-06-23 ] This advice stated Lord Goldsmith's preferred view in more unequivocal terms than his earlier memo, without reference to the doubts expressed therein. This has led to allegations that Lord Goldsmith succumbed to political pressure to find legal justification for the use of force against Iraq. [cite web
last = The Observer
title = Army chiefs feared Iraq war illegal just days before start
date = 29 February 2004
url = http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,6903,1158801,00.html
accessdate = 2007-06-23 ] Shortly after the leak Lord Goldsmith released a statement in response to such allegations, saying that the two documents were consistent, pointing to the difference in the nature of the two documents and the firm assurances he had received between 7 and 17 March that Iraq was indeed in breach of its obligations under Security Council resolutions. The controversy was heightened by the resignation of Elizabeth Wilmshurst, deputy legal adviser at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, on 20 March 2003. A full version of her letter of resignation [cite web
last = BBC News
title = Wilmshurst resignation letter
date = 24 March 2005
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4377605.stm
accessdate = 2007-06-23 ] became public in March 2005. In this, Wilmshurst stated that the reason for her resignation was that she did not agree with the official opinion that the use of force in Iraq was legal. She also accused Lord Goldsmith of changing his view on the matter.

Present position

Goldsmith has been appointed head of European Litigation at the London office of US law firm Debevoise & Plimpton.

He is the first retiring Attorney General ever to join a law firm, and has announced his intention to qualify as a solicitor, in order that he can be appointed a full equity partner of the firm (and so share in the firm's profits and acquire an ownership share in the firm). He is reported - by "The Guardian" newspaper on 27 September 2007 - to be remunerated at the rate of £1 million a year in his new position. The same report said that he would have expected to earn more than that if he had resumed practice at the English Bar.

His former chambers are Fountain Court, from where several very distinguished lawyers have come, including Lord Bingham of Cornhill, the present senior law lord.

Upon leaving office, former Attorneys General usually return to practise at the Bar, often at the chambers which they left upon appointment as Attorney. Unlike the position with retired Lords Chancellor, there is no prohibition on an Attorney General returning to practise at the Bar, where they usually resume a far more lucrative position vis-à-vis the meagre financial rewards of public service.Fact|date=September 2007

As a former Minister and holder of public office, Lord Goldsmith has had to accept a number of restrictions on his freedom to practise for two years after leaving office. The restrictions are imposed by the prime minister on the advice of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, a branch of the Cabinet Office (www.acoba.gov.uk).

Lord Goldsmith's restrictions prevent him, for 12 months after leaving office, from being personally involved in lobbying Government Ministers or officials. For two years after leaving office, he is required to stand aside from dealing with any matter about which he had confidential or privileged information acquired while he was Attorney General.

Lord Goldsmith was a lawyer of famous Georgian businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili who spent the final day in his office, before collapsing and dying with heart attack at his Leatherhead mansion.

External links

* [http://www.attorneygeneral.gov.uk/sub_about_us_biographies.htm The Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers: Attorney General] — a biography
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/frontpage/4492195.stm Written answer on Iraq advice] — from "BBC News"
* [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199899/minutes/991019/ldminute.htm Announcement of his introduction at the House of Lords]

References

Offices held