Una Jagose

Solicitor General Una Jagose oversees the 800 lawyers in Government but hit the headlines with her fronting to the AbuseinCare Royal Commission last year, when she apologised on behalf of the government for the abuse of children.

The apology had mixed reviews as she announced her strategy for dealing with the situation.

“It might be that we are never as survivor focused as survivors want us to be, but there have been significant shifts taken in the litigation processes. Undoubtedly the Commission will recommend others and I am listening, we are listening,” she told survivors at the hearing.

As chief executive of the Crown Law Office and its 180 staff, and also the ‘‘professional head’’ of more than 800 lawyers employed by the government’s various departments, ministries and agencies she has a power role both from a legislative and a legal leadership perspective.

She has previously pointed out that, as Solicitor-general, she is both the Government’s main adviser over any legal disputes involving the Crown, and the senior advocate for the Government.

Part of her role was to ensure that successive governments continued to recognise the law, and to work in accordance with it.

Una Jagose had already held a position of considerable power as acting head of the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB). She had previously been Deputy Solicitor, Crown Legal Risk at Crown Law for two years before moving to the GCSB role. Earlier, she worked for Crown Law for over a decade and had also been chief legal advisor at the Ministry of Fisheries.

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