Advocate General for Scotland
Department overview | |
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Formed | 1999 |
Jurisdiction | Scotland |
Headquarters | Queen Elizabeth House, Edinburgh |
Minister responsible |
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Department executive |
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Website | gov |
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Politics of the United Kingdom |
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United Kingdom portal |
His Majesty's Advocate General for Scotland(Scottish Gaelic:Àrd-neach-tagraidh an Rìgh airson Alba) is one of theLaw Officers of the Crown,whose duty it is to advise theCrownandHis Majesty's GovernmentonScots law.TheOffice of the Advocate General for Scotlandis aministerial departmentof theGovernment of the United Kingdom.[1]The position is currently occupied byCatherine SmithKC.[2]
History
[edit]The office of Advocate General for Scotland was created in 1999 by theScotland Act 1998to be the chief legal adviser to the United Kingdom Government on Scots law. This function had previously been carried out by theLord AdvocateandSolicitor General for Scotland,who were transferred to theScottish Governmenton the establishment of theScottish 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 inScottish criminal proceedings.
List of Advocates General for Scotland
[edit]Portrait | Name (birth–death) |
Term of office | Party | Ministry | Ref. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Right Honourable Lynda Clark Baroness Clark of Calton[a] PCQC (born 1949) |
19 May 1999 |
18 January 2006 |
Labour | Blair I | [3] | ||
Blair II | |||||||
The Right Honourable Neil Davidson Baron Davidson of Glen Clova QC (born 1950) |
21 March 2006 |
11 May 2010 |
[4] | ||||
Blair III | |||||||
Brown | |||||||
The Right Honourable Jim Wallace Baron Wallace of Tankerness PCQC (born 1954) |
14 May 2010 |
8 May 2015 |
Liberal Democrat |
Cameron–Clegg (Con.–LD) |
[5] | ||
The Right Honourable Richard Keen Baron Keen of Elie PCQC (born 1954) |
29 May 2015 |
16 September 2020 |
Conservative | Cameron II | [6] | ||
May I | |||||||
May II | |||||||
Johnson I | |||||||
Johnson II | |||||||
The Right Honourable Keith Stewart Baron Stewart of Dirleton KC (born 1965) |
15 October 2020 |
5 July 2024 |
[7][8][9] | ||||
Truss | |||||||
Sunak | |||||||
The Honourable Catherine Smith KC (born 1973) |
29 August 2024 |
present | Labour | Starmer | [10] |
The first holder of the office wasLynda Clark,then Member of Parliament forEdinburgh Pentlandsand from 2005 a member of theHouse of Lordsas Baroness Clark of Calton. On 18 January 2006, Baroness Clark resigned to take up office as aSenator of the College of Justice,a judge of theSupreme Courts of Scotland.
The office was then vacant until 15 March of that year when, under section 87 of theScotland Act 1998,its functions were temporarily conferred on the Secretary of State for Scotland,Alastair DarlingMP, himself a Scottishadvocate.[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 announcedNeil Davidson,formerSolicitor 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 formerDeputy First Minister of Scotland,was appointed by thecoalition government.
Richard Keen was appointed Advocate General inDavid Cameron's majority governmenton 29 May 2015, and has retained the post through two subsequent prime ministers to 2020.[11]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 theUK Internal Market Bill,noting in his letter of resignation toBoris Johnsonthat he found it "increasingly difficult to reconcile what I consider to be my obligations as a Law Officer with your policy intentions".[12]
Keith Stewart was appointed to succeed Keen on 15 October 2020.[13]Catherine Smithwas appointed to the office and a life peerage by theStarmer governmenton 29 August 2024.[10]
Organisation
[edit]The office has a staff of around 40.
All staff are on secondment or loan from other government organisations, mainly theScottish Governmentand theMinistry of Justice.[14]
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
- Head of Litigation Division (Scots law)
- Head of Advisory & Legislation Division (Primary legislation,subordinate legislation,Scotland Act draft orders)
- Head ofHMRCDivision
- Solicitor to the Advocate General
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^MP forEdinburgh Pentlandsuntil 2005; created Baroness Clark of Calton thereafter
References
[edit]- ^"List of Ministerial Responsibilities. Including Executive Agencies and Non-Ministerial Departments"(PDF).Cabinet Office. December 2013. p. 47. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 13 February 2014.Retrieved21 September2014.
- ^"Ministerial appointment: 29 August 2024".Gov.UK.Retrieved29 August2024.
- ^"Baroness Clark of Calton".UK Parliament.Retrieved24 October2017.
- ^"Lord Davidson of Glen Clova".UK Parliament.Retrieved24 October2017.
- ^"Lord Wallace of Tankerness".UK Parliament.Retrieved24 October2017.
- ^"Lord Keen of Elie".UK Parliament.Retrieved24 October2017.
- ^"Keith Stewart QC".GOV.UK.Retrieved19 October2020.
- ^"Keith Stewart QC appointed Advocate General for Scotland".Holyrood Magazine.15 October 2020.Retrieved19 October2020.
- ^"Keith Stewart QC to be next Advocate General for Scotland".Scottish Legal News.15 October 2020.Retrieved19 October2020.
- ^ab"Labour hand life peerage and top Scottish law role to party dynast".The National.29 August 2024.Retrieved29 August2024.
- ^"Advocate General for Scotland appointed"(Press release). Government of the United Kingdom. 29 May 2015.Retrieved29 May2015.
- ^"Lord Keen: Senior law officer quits over Brexit bill row".BBC News.16 September 2020.
- ^"UK government appoints QC as new Scots law chief".BBC News.15 October 2020.
- ^"Organization chart"(PDF).Office of the Advocate General. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 7 October 2011.Retrieved12 March2011.