Careful consideration required before changing role of Lord Advocate – Constance

Careful consideration is needed before changing the dual role of the Lord Advocate, the Justice Secretary has said.

Angela Constance was responding to a written question from SNP MSP Clare Adamson which asked when the Scottish Government would publish a report on the Scottish law officers’ roles and functions.

Ms Constance confirmed the report was published as of Tuesday, and said: “The report clearly sets out how and why the current system works and its considerable strengths.

“Careful consideration would be required if there were to be any changes made to the ways in which the law officers’ various functions were allocated.

“As protected by the Scotland Act, the law officers operate with integrity and entirely independently of any other person as they undertake their prosecutorial functions.

“Separating the functions would require legislation by the UK Parliament.”

The report was commissioned by the Scottish Government and produced by former Scottish Law Commission chief executive Malcolm McMillan.

It was ordered to help inform any future consultation on the law officers’ roles and functions.

Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain has a dual role as Scotland’s chief prosecutor and the Government’s principal legal adviser – a role she performs as a Cabinet minister.

She has been criticised recently by Tory and Labour MSPs after files were released by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service that showed she informed First Minister John Swinney of the charges against former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell last March – almost a year before the public were informed.

The Scottish Government has said it considers the current position is appropriate, and it will be for the next administration formed after the Holyrood election to consider any changes.

The report said: “It has been suggested that the nature of the functions of the Lord Advocate and the Solicitor General for Scotland have during their history gone through a ‘monarchical’ phase, a ‘predominantly political’ phase, and thereafter a ‘predominantly legal’ phase.”