Lord Advocate

Her Majesty's Advocate, and Lord Advocate is the chief legal adviser to the Scottish Executive and the Crown in Scotland for civil and criminal law.

He lost because of the devolution of the Scottish Parliament to power. The Lord Advocate is the Attorney General of Scotland and all charges levied nominally in his name. The incumbent is one of the Great Officers of State of Scotland. The current Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland is (QC ).

History

Lord Advocate 's an old office which was first awarded in 1483 to John Ross, of. Of King James III was appointed.

From 1707 to 1998 the Lord Advocate was the chief legal adviser to the Government of the United Kingdom and the Crown for Scottish civil and criminal law, to the Scotland Act transferred the majority of internal affairs at the Scottish Parliament. The Government is advised by now from the Scottish Advocate General on the law of Scotland.

The Lord Avocate is appointed by the monarch after consultation with the Parliament and the Prime Minister.

Parliamentary and governmental tasks

Until the decentralization of 1999, all Lord Advocates members of the Government of the United Kingdom were, although this office was usually not in the Cabinet rank. Following the decentralization of the Lord Advocate is no longer automatically a member of the Scottish Executive, because the Scotland Act forbids this in paragraph 44.

From 1999 to 2007 the Lord Advocate took part in the weekly meeting of the Scottish Cabinet. However, the new First Minister Alex Salmond in 2007 ruled that the Lord Advocate should not longer attend the meetings. He said he wanted to " de-politicize " this office.

Up to decentralize all Lord Advocates were also either member of the House of Commons or the House of Lords, which allowed them to speak to the government. Those who were not members of Parliament, were elevated to Life Peer. The Scotland Act allows the Lord Advocate now to participate in the meetings of the Scottish Parliament and to speak there by virtue of office, even if he were not a member of parliament.

The Lord Advocate is also the head of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. He is also responsible to oversee the setting up of Executive Bills and forward them to the Judical Committee of the Privy Council. Unlike his counterpart in England and Wales the Lord Advocate is Head of the Bar Association.

The law of the Lord Advocates to pronounce divorce, was abolished.

Subsequent offices of Lord Advocates

The judges of the supreme Scottish courts have been nominated in the past by the Lord Advocate. From 1842 to 1967 each Lord Advocate was later judge at one of the higher courts, and in the aftermath there were only three exceptions. In many cases, the Lord Advocate changed even in the office of one of the two chief judges of Scotland, the Lord President of the Court of Session or the Lord Justice Clerk.