His Majesty's Advocate, known as the Lord Advocate (), is the principal legal adviser of both the

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

and

the Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

for civil and criminal matters that fall within the

devolved Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories ...

powers of the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

. The Lord Advocate provides legal advice to the government on its responsibilities, policies, legislation and advising on the legal implications of any proposals brought forward by the government. The Lord Advocate is responsible for all legal advice which is given to the Scottish Government. The Lord Advocate serves as the ministerial head of the

Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service () is the independent public prosecution service for Scotland, and is a Ministerial Department of the Scottish Government. The department is headed by His Majesty's Lord Advocate, who under t ...

, and as such, is the chief

public prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in civil law. The prosecution is the legal party responsible ...

for Scotland with all

prosecution A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...

s on indictment being conducted by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in the Lord Advocate's name on behalf of the Monarch. The Lord Advocate serves as the head of the systems of prosecutions in Scotland and is responsible for the investigation of all sudden, suspicious, accidental and unexplained deaths which occur within Scotland. The officeholder is one of the

Great Officers of State Government in medieval monarchies generally comprised the king's companions, later becoming the royal household, from which the officers of state arose. These officers initially had household and governmental duties. Later some of these offic ...

of Scotland. The current Lord Advocate is

Dorothy Bain Dorothy Ruth Bain is a Scottish Faculty of Advocates, advocate who has served as Lord Advocate since 2021. She is the second woman to hold the office after Elish Angiolini, Lady Elish Angiolini KC. Bain previously served as the Crown Office and ...

KC, who was nominated by

First Minister A first minister is any of a variety of leaders of government cabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of ' ...

Nicola Sturgeon Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon (born 19 July 1970) is a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 2014 to 2023. She has served as a member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) sin ...

in June 2021. The Lord Advocate is appointed by the

monarch A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest ...

on the recommendation of the incumbent

First Minister of Scotland The first minister of Scotland () is the head of government of Scotland. The first minister leads the Scottish Government, the Executive (government), executive branch of the devolved government and is th ...

, with the agreement of the

History

The office of Advocate to the monarch is an ancient one. The first recorded Lord Advocate was Sir John Ross of Montgreenan, who is formally mentioned in 1483. At that time the post-holder was generally referred to as the "King's Advocate" and not until the year 1573 was the term "Lord Advocate" first used. From 1707 to 1998, the Lord Advocate was the chief legal adviser of the British Government and the Crown on Scottish legal matters, both civil and criminal, until the

Scotland Act 1998 The Scotland Act 1998 (c. 46) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which legislated for the establishment of the devolved Scottish Parliament with tax varying powers and the Scottish Government (then Scottish Executive). It was o ...

devolved most domestic affairs to the Scottish Parliament.

His Majesty's Government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

is now advised on

Scots law Scots law () is the List of country legal systems, legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing Civil law (legal system), civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different histori ...

by 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 The Crown, Crown and His Majesty's Government on Scots law. The Office of the Advocate General for Scotland is a Departments o ...

. The Lord Advocate is not head of the

Faculty of Advocates The Faculty of Advocates () is an independent body of lawyers who have been admitted to practise as advocates before the courts of Scotland, especially the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary. The Faculty of Advocates is a const ...

; that position is held by the Dean of the Faculty of Advocates.

Parliamentary and government role

Part of government

Until devolution in 1999, all Lords Advocate were, by convention, members of either the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

or the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

to allow them to speak for the government. Those who were not already members of either house received a

life peerage In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

on appointment. Since devolution, the Lord Advocate and the Solicitor General for Scotland are permitted to attend and speak in the Scottish Parliament ''ex officio'', even if they are not Members of the Scottish Parliament. From 1999 until 2007, the Lord Advocate attended the weekly Scottish Cabinet meetings. However, after the 2007 election, the new First Minister

Alex Salmond Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond ( ; 31 December 1954 – 12 October 2024) was a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure in the Scottish nationalist movement, he was Leader of the Sc ...

decided that Lord Advocate would no longer attend the Scottish Cabinet, stating he wished to "de-politicise" the post.

Post–lord advocate

Appointments as Senators of the

College of Justice The College of Justice () includes the Supreme Courts of Scotland, and its associated bodies. The constituent bodies of the national supreme courts are the Court of Session, the High Court of Justiciary, the Office of the Accountant of Court, ...

were formerly made on the nomination of the Lord Advocate. Every Lord Advocate between 1842 and 1967 was later appointed to the bench, either on demitting office or at a later date. Many lord advocates in fact nominated themselves for appointment as

Lord President of the Court of Session The Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General () is the most senior judge in Scotland, the head of the judiciary, and the presiding judge of the College of Justice, the Court of Session, and the High Court of Justiciary. ...

or as

Lord Justice Clerk The Lord Justice Clerk is the second most senior judge in Scotland, after the Lord President of the Court of Session. The current Lord Justice Clerk is Lord Beckett, who was appointed to the position on 4 February 2025, succeeding Lady Dorr ...

Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service

The

is headed by the Lord Advocate and the Solicitor General for Scotland, and is the public prosecution service in Scotland. It also carries out functions which are broadly equivalent to the

coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death. The official may also investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

jurisdictions. Incorporated within the Crown Office is the Legal Secretariat to the Lord Advocate.

Crown Agent

The Crown Agent is the principal legal adviser to the Lord Advocate on prosecution matters. He or she also acts as Chief Executive for the department and as solicitor in all legal proceedings in which the Lord Advocate appears as representing his or her own department. They issue general instructions for the guidance of Crown counsel, procurators fiscal, sheriff clerks and other public officials; transmit instructions from Crown counsel to procurators fiscal about prosecutions; and in consultation with the Clerk of Justiciary, arrange sittings of the

High Court of Justiciary The High Court of Justiciary () is the supreme criminal court in Scotland. The High Court is both a trial court and a court of appeal. As a trial court, the High Court sits on circuit at Parliament House or in the adjacent former Sheriff C ...

. At trials in the High Court in Edinburgh, they attend as instructing solicitor. They are assisted by other senior legal, managerial and administrative staff. The Crown Agent also holds the office of King's and Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer.

Calls for reform

In the Greshornish House Accord of 16 September 2008, Professors Hans Köchler and Robert Black said—

It is inappropriate that the Chief Legal Adviser to the Government is also head of all criminal prosecutions. Whilst the Lord Advocate and Solicitor General continue as public prosecutors the principle of separation of powers seems compromised. The potential for a conflict of interest always exists. Resolution of these circumstances would entail an amendment of the provisions contained within the Scotland Act 1998.

The judges of Scotland's highest court came to share this view. In a submission to the commission set up to consider how the devolution settlement between Scotland and the United Kingdom could be improved, the judges recommended that the Lord Advocate should cease to be the head of the public prosecution system and should act only as the Scottish Government's chief legal adviser. They noted various ways in which the Lord Advocate's roles had caused problems for the judicial system, including the ability "to challenge... virtually any act of a prosecutor has led to a plethora of disputed issues, with consequential delays to the holding of trials and to the hearing and completion of appeals against conviction." The judges proposed three alternative solutions: stripping the Lord Advocate of responsibility for prosecutions, exempting the Lord Advocate from compliance with the

European Convention on Human Rights The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is a Supranational law, supranational convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Draf ...

, or changing the law on criminal appeals. While not specifically favouring any of the three, they noted that the third proposal was radical enough to "generate considerable controversy".

List of lords advocate

Pre-Union

* 1478 or earlier–1494: John Ross of Montgrenan * 1494–1503: James Henryson of Fordell * 1503–1521?:In the National Records of Scotland (GD243/23/2) is a charter dated 23 September 1508 wherein Jonet Elphinstoun is mentioned as "relict of the deceased Master Richard Lausoun of Hieriggis." Richard Lawson of Heirigs * 1521–1525: James Wishart of Pittarrow * 1525–1527: Adam Otterburn of Reidhall * 1527–1533: John Foulis ''and'' Adam Otterburn of Reidhall * 1533–1538: Adam Otterburn ''and'' Henry Lauder * 1538–1561: Henry Lauder * Henry Balnaves, to

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...

*Thomas Cumin, Lord of Session *1561: John Spens of Condie, Lord Condie * Robert Crichton *1573–1582: David Borthwick of Lochhill * 1582–1589: David Macgill of Cranston-Riddell, and Nisbet * 1589–1594: John Skene * 1594: William Hart of Livelands * 1594–1595: Andrew Logie * 1595: Sir Thomas Hamilton ''and'' David Macgill * 1596–1612: Sir Thomas Hamilton * 1612–1626: Sir William Oliphant * 1626–1645: Sir Thomas Hope, Bt * 1646–?: Sir Archibald Johnston *Sir Thomas Nicholson *1659–1661: Sir Archibald Primrose * 1661–1664: Sir John Fletcher * 1664–1677: Sir John Nisbet * 1677–1687: Sir George Mackenzie of Rosehaugh * 1687–1688: John Dalrymple * 1688–1689: Sir George Mackenzie * 1689–1692: John Dalrymple * 1692–1707: Sir James Stewart

Post-Union

* 1707–1709: Sir James Stewart * 1709–1711: Sir David Dalrymple, 1st Baronet * 1711–1713: Sir James Stewart (second time) * 1714: Thomas Kennedy of Dunure * 1714–1720: Sir David Dalrymple, 1st Baronet * 1720–1725: Robert Dundas the elder * 1725–1737: Duncan Forbes * 1737–1742: Charles Erskine * 1742–1746: Robert Craigie * 1746–1754: William Grant * 1754–1760: Robert Dundas the younger * 1760–1766: Thomas Miller * 1766–1775: James Montgomery * 1775–1783: Henry Dundas * 1783: Hon. Henry Erskine * 1783–1789: Ilay Campbell * 1789–1801: Robert Dundas * 1801–1804: Charles Hope * 1804–1806: Sir James Montgomery, Bt * 1806–1807: Hon. Henry Erskine * 1807–1816: Archibald Colquhoun * 1816–1819: Alexander Maconochie * 1819–1830: Sir William Rae * December 1830 – May 1834: Francis Jeffrey * May – November 1834: John Murray * December 1834 – April 1835: Sir William Rae * April 1835 – April 1839: John Murray * April 1839 – September 1841: Andrew Rutherfurd * September 1841 – October 1842: Sir William Rae * October 1842 – July 1846: Duncan McNeill * July 1846 – April 1851: Andrew Rutherfurd * April 1851 – February 1852: James Moncreiff * February – May 1852: Adam Anderson * May – December 1852: John Inglis * December 1852 – March 1858: James Moncreiff * March – July 1858: John Inglis * July 1858 – April 1859: Charles Baillie * April – June 1859: David Mure * June 1859 – July 1866: James Moncreiff * July 1866 – February 1867: George Patton * February 1867 – December 1868: Edward Strathearn Gordon * December 1868 – October 1869: James Moncreiff * October 1869 – February 1874: George Young * 1874–1876: Edward Strathearn Gordon * July 1876 – April 1880: William Watson * May 1880 – August 1881: John McLaren * August 1881 – July 1885: John Blair Balfour * July 1885 – February 1886: John Macdonald * February – August 1886: John Blair Balfour * August 1886 – October 1888: John Macdonald * October 1888 – August 1891: James Patrick Bannerman Robertson * October 1891 – August 1892: Sir Charles John Pearson * August 1892 – July 1895: John Blair Balfour * July 1895 – May 1896: Sir Charles John Pearson * May 1896 – October 1903: Andrew Graham Murray * October 1903 – December 1905: Charles Scott Dickson * December 1905 – February 1909: Thomas Shaw * February 1909 – October 1913: Alexander Ure * October 1913 – December 1916: Robert Munro * December 1916 – 1920: James Avon Clyde * 1920–1922: Thomas Brash Morison * March 1922 – November 1922: Charles David Murray * November 1922 – February 1924: William Watson * February 1924 – November 1924: Hugh Pattison MacMillan * November 1924 – May 1929: William Watson * May 1929 – June 1929: Alexander Munro MacRobert * June 1929 – 1933: Craigie Mason Aitchison * 1933–1935: Wilfrid Guild Normand * April 1935 – October 1935: Douglas Jamieson * 1935–1941: Thomas Mackay Cooper * 1941–1945: James Scott Cumberland Reid * 1945–1947: George Reid Thomson * 1947–1951: John Thomas Wheatley * 1951–1955: James Latham McDiarmid Clyde * 1955–1960: William Rankine Milligan * 1960–1962: William Grant * 1962–1964: Ian Hamilton Shearer * 1964–1967: George Gordon Stott * 1967–1970: Henry Stephen Wilson * 1970–1974: Norman Russell Wylie * 1974–1979: Ronald King Murray * 1979–1984:

Lord Mackay of Clashfern James Peter Hymers Mackay, Baron Mackay of Clashfern (born 2 July 1927) is a British lawyer. He served as Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, Lord Advocate, and Lord Chancellor (1987–1997). He was formerly an active member of the House of Lords, ...

* 1984–1989: Lord Cameron of Lochbroom * 1989–1992: Lord Fraser of Carmyllie * 1992–1995: Lord Rodger of Earlsferry * 1995–1997: Lord Mackay of Drumadoon

Post-Devolution

References

Sources

''The career path of recent Scottish law officers'', Scots Law Times'', 14 July 2006''

External links

Lord Advocate
on the

website
Lord Advocate
on the

website {{authority control Scots law formal titles Lists of government ministers of the United Kingdom

Lord Advocate His Majesty's Advocate, known as the Lord Advocate (), is the principal legal adviser of both the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolution, devolved powers of the Scottish P ...

Lists of office-holders in Scotland Region-specific legal occupations Law officers of the Crown in the United Kingdom