Crown Office in Chancery

Not to be confused with the Scottish Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.
Crown Office in Chancery
Department overview
HeadquartersHouse of Lords
London, SW1A 0PW
Employees4
Minister responsible
Department executives
Parent departmentMinistry of Justice
Key document

The Crown Office, also known (especially in official papers) as the Crown Office in Chancery, is a section of the Ministry of Justice (formerly the Lord Chancellor's Department). It has custody of the Great Seal of the Realm, and has certain administrative functions in connection with the courts and the judicial process, as well as functions relating to the electoral process for House of Commons elections, to the keeping of the Roll of the Peerage, and to the preparation of royal documents such as warrants required to pass under the royal sign-manual, fiats, letters patent, etc. In legal documents, the Crown Office refers to the office of the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery.[1]

The Crown Office employees consist of the Head of the Crown Office, one sealer and two scribes.[2][3]

  1. ^ Crown Office Act 1877, section 7
  2. ^ Rogers, David (2015). By Royal Appointment: Tales from the Privy Council - the Unknown Arm of Government. Biteback Publishing. The Great Seal of the Realm is in the custody of the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, who is also the Lord Chancellor. The affixing of [the] Great Seal is the responsibility of the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery. [They are] helped by a deputy and one Sealer and two Scribes to Her Majesty's Crown Office.
  3. ^ "[Crown Office] Department Information (Freedom of Information Request)" (PDF). WhatDoTheyKnow. 21 March 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.