Advocate General for Scotland

Office of the Advocate General for Scotland
Department overview
Formed	1999
Jurisdiction	Scotland
Headquarters	Queen Elizabeth House, Edinburgh
Minister responsible	Baroness Smith of Cluny KC, 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 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 occupied by Catherine Smith KC.^[2]

History

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

Advocate General for Scotland
Name (birth–death)	Term of office		Party	Ministry	Ref.
The Right Honourable Lynda Clark Baroness Clark of Calton^[a] PC QC (born 1949)	19 May 1999	18 January 2006	Labour	Blair I	^[3]
	19 May 1999	18 January 2006		Blair II	^[3]
The Right Honourable Neil Davidson Baron Davidson of Glen Clova QC (born 1950)	21 March 2006	11 May 2010		Blair II	^[4]
				Blair III
				Brown
The Right Honourable Jim Wallace Baron Wallace of Tankerness PC QC (born 1954)	14 May 2010	8 May 2015	Liberal Democrat	Cameron–Clegg (Con.–LD)	^[5]
The Right Honourable Richard Keen Baron Keen of Elie PC QC (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		Johnson II	^[7]^[8]^[9]
				Truss
				Sunak
The Right Honourable Catherine Smith Baroness Smith of Cluny KC (born 1973)	29 August 2024	present	Labour	Starmer	^[10]

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, Alistair 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.^[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 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".^[12]

Keith Stewart was appointed to succeed Keen on 15 October 2020.^[13] Catherine Smith was appointed to the office and a life peerage by the Starmer government on 29 August 2024.^[10]

Organisation

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.^[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 of HMRC Division

Notes

^ MP for Edinburgh Pentlands until 2005; created Baroness Clark of Calton thereafter

References

^ "List of Ministerial Responsibilities. Including Executive Agencies and Non-Ministerial Departments" (PDF). Cabinet Office. December 2013. p. 47. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 February 2014. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
^ "Ministerial appointment: 29 August 2024". Gov.UK. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
^ "Baroness Clark of Calton". UK Parliament. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
^ "Lord Davidson of Glen Clova". UK Parliament. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
^ "Lord Wallace of Tankerness". UK Parliament. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
^ "Lord Keen of Elie". UK Parliament. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
^ "Keith Stewart QC". GOV.UK. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
^ "Keith Stewart QC appointed Advocate General for Scotland". Holyrood Magazine. 15 October 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
^ "Keith Stewart QC to be next Advocate General for Scotland". Scottish Legal News. 15 October 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
^ ^a ^b "Labour hand life peerage and top Scottish law role to party dynast". The National. 29 August 2024. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
^ "Advocate General for Scotland appointed" (Press release). Government of the United Kingdom. 29 May 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
^ "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 from the original (PDF) on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2011.

External links

Official website

[3] MP for Edinburgh Pentlands until 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 from the original (PDF) on 13 February 2014. Retrieved 21 September 2014.

[2] "Ministerial appointment: 29 August 2024". Gov.UK. Retrieved 29 August 2024.

[4] "Baroness Clark of Calton". UK Parliament. Retrieved 24 October 2017.

[5] "Lord Davidson of Glen Clova". UK Parliament. Retrieved 24 October 2017.

[6] "Lord Wallace of Tankerness". UK Parliament. Retrieved 24 October 2017.

[7] "Lord Keen of Elie". UK Parliament. Retrieved 24 October 2017.

[8] "Keith Stewart QC". GOV.UK. Retrieved 19 October 2020.

[9] "Keith Stewart QC appointed Advocate General for Scotland". Holyrood Magazine. 15 October 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2020.

[10] "Keith Stewart QC to be next Advocate General for Scotland". Scottish Legal News. 15 October 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2020.

[Catherine_Smith_National-11] "Labour hand life peerage and top Scottish law role to party dynast". The National. 29 August 2024. Retrieved 29 August 2024.

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

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

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

[15] "Organization chart" (PDF). Office of the Advocate General. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2011.

[1]

[2]

[a]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

v t e Scotland Office
Headquarters: Dover House, Whitehall, London Melville Crescent, Edinburgh
Secretary of State	Ian Murray
Under-Secretaries of State	Kirsty McNeill
Advocate General	The Baroness Smith of Cluny
Predecessor: Scottish Office

v t e Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom
Ministerial	Advocate General for Scotland Attorney General's Office Business and Trade Cabinet Office Culture, Media and Sport Defence Education Energy Security and Net Zero Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Health and Social Care Home Housing, Communities and Local Government Justice Leader of the House of Commons Leader of the House of Lords Northern Ireland Science, Innovation and Technology Scotland Transport Treasury UK Export Finance Wales Work and Pensions
Non-ministerial	Charity Commission for England and Wales Competition and Markets Authority Crown Prosecution Service Food Standards Agency Forestry Commission Government Actuary's Department Government Legal Department Land Registry Revenue and Customs National Archives National Crime Agency National Savings and Investments Office of Gas and Electricity Markets Office of Rail and Road Ofqual Ofsted Ofwat Serious Fraud Office Supreme Court UK Statistics Authority
Category Commons