Advocate General for Scotland

Office of the Advocate General for Scotland
Scottish Gaelic:*Àrd-neach-tagraidh an Rìgh airson Alba*
Department overview
Formed	1999
Jurisdiction	Scotland
Headquarters	Queen Elizabeth House, Edinburgh
Minister responsible	Keith Stewart, Baron Stewart of DirletonKC, HM Advocate General for Scotland;
Department executive	Neil Taylor, Director and Solicitor to the Advocate General;
Website	gov.uk/government/organisations/office-of-the-advocate-general-for-scotland

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 held byLord Stewart of Dirleton.

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]

Advocate General for Scotland
Name (birth–death)	Term of office		Party	Ministry	Ref.
The Right Honourable Lynda Clark Baroness Clark of Calton^[a] PC KC (born 1949)	19 May 1999	18 January 2006	Labour	Blair I	^[2]
	19 May 1999	18 January 2006		Blair II	^[2]
The Right Honourable Neil Davidson Lord Davidson of Glen Clova KC (born 1950)	21 March 2006	11 May 2010		Blair II	^[3]
				Blair III
				Brown
The Right Honourable Jim Wallace Lord Wallace of Tankerness PC KC (born 1954)	14 May 2010	8 May 2015	Liberal Democrat	Cameron–Clegg (Con.–LD)	^[4]
The Right Honourable Richard Keen Lord Keen of Elie KC PC (born 1954)	29 May 2015	16 September 2020	Conservative	Cameron II	^[5]
				May I
				May II
				Johnson I
				Johnson II
The Right Honourable Keith Stewart Lord Stewart of Dirleton KC	15 October 2020	Incumbent		Johnson II	^[6]^[7]^[8]
				Truss
				Sunak

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.^[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 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".^[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 theScottish Governmentand theMinistry 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
  - Head of Litigation Division (Scots law)
  - Head of Advisory & Legislation Division (Primary legislation,subordinate legislation,Scotland Act draft orders)
  - Head ofHMRCDivision

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.
^"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.
^"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.

External links[edit]

Official website

[2] MP forEdinburgh Pentlandsuntil 2005; created Baroness Clark of Calton thereafter

[1] "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.

[3] "Baroness Clark of Calton".UK Parliament.Retrieved24 October2017.

[4] "Lord Davidson of Glen Clova".UK Parliament.Retrieved24 October2017.

[5] "Lord Wallace of Tankerness".UK Parliament.Retrieved24 October2017.

[6] "Lord Keen of Elie".UK Parliament.Retrieved24 October2017.

[7] "Keith Stewart QC".GOV.UK.Retrieved19 October2020.

[8] "Keith Stewart QC appointed Advocate General for Scotland".Holyrood Magazine.15 October 2020.Retrieved19 October2020.

[9] "Keith Stewart QC to be next Advocate General for Scotland".Scottish Legal News.15 October 2020.Retrieved19 October2020.

[10] "Advocate General for Scotland appointed"(Press release). Government of the United Kingdom. 29 May 2015.Retrieved29 May2015.

[11] "Lord Keen: Senior law officer quits over Brexit bill row".BBC News.16 September 2020.

[12] "UK government appoints QC as new Scots law chief".BBC News.15 October 2020.

[13] "Organization chart"(PDF).Office of the Advocate General. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 7 October 2011.Retrieved12 March2011.

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v t e Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland
Headquarters: Dover House,Whitehall, London Melville Crescent,Edinburgh
Secretary of State	Alister Jack
Under-Secretaries of State	John Lamont The Lord Cameron of Lochiel
Advocate General	The Lord Stewart of Dirleton
Predecessor:Scottish Office

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