Historically, states have recognised the need for representation of an incapacitated person when a benevolent relative or friend cannot be found to act on his behalf, this is the function of the Office of the Official Solicitor.
The Official Solicitor acts for England and Wales only, as Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate legal systems and judiciaries.
The development of the functions of the Official Solicitor can be traced back to the 18th century when the Office of the Six Clerks, which is mentioned in Samuel Pepys’ Diary, assisted destitute litigants, lunatics and infants in Chancery suits and this form of support continued until the modern system of legal funding came into effect.
In 1842, the Office of the Six Clerks was abolished by the Court of Chancery Act and John Johnson was appointed Solicitor to the Suitors’ Fund by the Lord Chancellor to represent ‘paupers, infants and lunatics’ where there was no ‘natural protector’.
Lord Chancellor Cairns by an order dated 7 February 1876 then appointed Henry Pemberton to be The Official Solicitor to the Supreme Court of Judicature.
The new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom was established under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 and came into effect in October 2009, separating the judicial and law-making functions of the House of Lords for the first time.