# The Civil Procedure Rules 1998, Rule 79.18: Appointment of a special advocate


(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the appropriate Minister must immediately give notice of the proceedings to the Attorney General—
(a) upon being served with any claim form, application notice or appeal notice; or
(b) where the appropriate Minister intends to file an appeal notice,
in proceedings to which Section 2 or 3 of this Part applies.
(2) Paragraph (1) applies unless—
(a) the appropriate Minister does not intend to—
(i) oppose the claim, application or appeal; or
(ii) apply for permission to withhold closed material from a party and that party’s legal representative; or
(b) a special advocate has already been appointed to represent the interests of a party other than the appropriate Minister and that special advocate is not prevented from communicating with that party by virtue of rule 79.20.
(3) Where any proceedings to which Section 2 or 3 of this Part applies are pending but no special advocate has been appointed, any party may request the Attorney General to appoint a special advocate.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1998/3132/rule/79.18 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/civil-procedure-rules-1998/rule-79.18
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.