One of the Law Officers of the Crown
His Majesty's Advocate General for Scotland
(
Scottish Gaelic
:
Ard-neach-tagraidh an Righ airson Alba
) is one of the
Law Officers of the Crown
, whose duty it is to advise the
Crown
and
His Majesty's Government
on
Scots law
. The
Office of the Advocate General for Scotland
is a
ministerial department
of the
Government of the United Kingdom
.
[1]
The position is currently held by
Lord Stewart of Dirleton
.
History
[
edit
]
The office of Advocate General for Scotland was created in 1999 by the
Scotland Act 1998
to be the chief legal adviser to the United Kingdom Government on Scots law. This function had previously been carried out by the
Lord Advocate
and
Solicitor General for Scotland
, who were transferred to the
Scottish Government
on the establishment of the
Scottish Parliament
. The office of the Advocate General for Scotland should not be confused with that of "His Majesty's Advocate", which is the term used for the Lord Advocate in
Scottish criminal proceedings
.
List of Advocates General for Scotland
[
edit
]
The first holder of the office was
Lynda Clark
, then Member of Parliament for
Edinburgh Pentlands
and from 2005 a member of the
House of Lords
as Baroness Clark of Calton. On 18 January 2006, Baroness Clark resigned to take up office as a
Senator of the College of Justice
, a judge of the
Supreme Courts of Scotland
.
The office was then vacant until 15 March of that year when, under section 87 of the
Scotland Act 1998
, its functions were temporarily conferred on the Secretary of State for Scotland,
Alastair Darling
MP, himself a Scottish
advocate
.
[
citation needed
]
There had been substantial criticism from the judiciary and others of the length of time the office had been left vacant.
[
citation needed
]
On 21 March, however, it was announced
Neil Davidson
, former
Solicitor General for Scotland
, had been appointed Advocate General. He was created a life peer, as Baron Davidson of Glen Clova, on 22 March 2006.
On 14 May 2010,
Jim Wallace, Baron Wallace of Tankerness
, a former
Deputy First Minister of Scotland
, was appointed by the
coalition government
.
Richard Keen was appointed Advocate General in
David Cameron's majority government
on 29 May 2015, and has retained the post through two subsequent prime ministers to 2020.
[9]
He was created a life peer, as Baron Keen of Elie, on 8 June 2015. He resigned on 16 September 2020 citing concerns arising from the
UK Internal Market Bill
, noting in his letter of resignation to
Boris Johnson
that he found it "increasingly difficult to reconcile what I consider to be my obligations as a Law Officer with your policy intentions".
[10]
Keith Stewart was appointed to succeed Keen on 15 October 2020.
[11]
Organisation
[
edit
]
The office has a staff of around 40.
All staff are on secondment or loan from other government organisations, mainly the
Scottish Government
and the
Ministry of Justice
.
[12]
Offices of the Advocate General
- Advocate General's Private Office, based in London
- Legal Secretariat to the Advocate General (LSAG), based in London
- Legal Secretary to the Advocate General
- Office of the Advocate General (OAG), based in Edinburgh
- Solicitor to the Advocate General
See also
[
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]
Notes
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
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]
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