Section 78 of the Local Governance Act, 2016 (Act 936) lists the Legal Department as one of sixteen (16) departments of a Metropolitan Assembly as indicated in the Second Schedule to the Act.
According to the Staffing Norms of the Local Government Service developed in December 2014, the Legal Department is to be composed of Solicitors and Sub-Professional Staff as follows:
a). A minimum of 5 Solicitors of various grades
b). 2 Legal Clerks
c). 2 Executive Officers
d). 1 Records Officer
e). 1 Stenographer Secretary.
The Metropolitan Legal Department consists of the Office of the Metropolitan Solicitor and the Marriage Registry.
The Local Government (Integration of Government and Decentralised Departments) (Establishment) Instrument, 2009 (L.I. 1961) sets out the functions of the Legal Department as follows: