Abstract

If a government claims to rely on  legal opinion tosupport its action, unless there is an issue of privilege, it should publish it/

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Article

If a government relies on a lega opinion to support its action, it should publish it in the cause of transparency.

Otherwise, it may be an incorrect interprettion of the opinion, or the opinion may be incorrect.  There is no reason why it shoould not be subjected to scrutiny.

If the government is not prepared to pblish it, it should not cite it as support for its action.

It would be too easy to obtain an opinion from a tame lega adviser, or to read an opinion which does not clearly provide support as favourable.