To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether the advice of the Attorney-General on the rights of illegitimate children in a succession to the Crown (a) was requested prior to and (b) has been requested since the deposition in February 1981 of the UK’s interpretative declaration of articles 9 and 10 of the European Convention on the Legal Status of Children Born out of Wedlock. (312537)

By long-standing convention, observed by successive Administrations and embodied in the Ministerial Code, the fact that the Law Officers have advised (or have not advised) on a particular issue, and the content of any advice, is not disclosed outside Government without their authority.