The
Attorney General has directed the Office of Legal Counsel to publish
selected opinions for the convenience of the executive, legislative,
and judicial branches of the government, and of the professional bar
and the general public. The authority of the Office of Legal Counsel
to render legal opinions is derived from the authority of the Attorney
General. Under the Judiciary Act of 1789, the Attorney General was authorized
to render opinions on questions of law when requested by the President
and the heads of executive departments. This authority is now codified
at 28 U.S.C. §§ 511-513. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 510 the Attorney General
has delegated to the Office of Legal Counsel responsibility for preparing
the formal opinions of the Attorney General, rendering opinions to the
various federal agencies, assisting the Attorney General in the performance
of his function as legal adviser to the President, and rendering opinions
to the Attorney General and the heads of the various organizational
units of the Department of Justice. 28 C.F.R. § 0.25.
The web site includes Office of Legal Counsel opinions that the Department of Justice has determined are appropriate for publication. Volumes 1-20 of the published Opinions
of the Office of Legal Counsel contain the official versions of opinions
for the years 1977-1996. Those opinions are also available on Westlaw
and LEXIS. Additional volumes containing opinions for subsequent years
will continue to be published on a regular basis.
The opinions on
this web site are arranged -- but not necessarily added to the site
-- in the order that they were sent to their addressees by OLC. Thus,
despite the presence of opinions issued in 2003, opinions issued in
earlier years may still be added to the site in the future.
Memoranda
and Opinions By Year
For
additional information please contact the Office of Legal Counsel
at the following address:
Office of Legal Counsel
United States Department of Justice
Washington, DC 20530
(202) 514-2051