Working for OPC

The Office of the Parliamentary Counsel is a group of government lawyers who specialise in drafting legislation.


The Office of the Parliamentary Counsel is headed by the First Parliamentary Counsel. We are a team of some 50 lawyers and 10 support staff within the Civil Service. We draft government bills for introduction into Parliament and handle related Parliamentary business.

Legislative drafting involves:

  • analysis of a department’s legislative proposals
  • getting into the detail of how best the policy should be implemented in law
  • devising a suitable legislative structure
  • drafting the legislative provisions themselves

You can read some case studies written by a few of our recent recruits. These case studies describe their background, experiences working for the office, and the areas they particularly enjoy.