News In Focus
21 February 2006
Lord Advocate's role "too politicised"
Two senior law figures have claimed that the Lord Advocate must leave the cabinet to protect the historical independence of the role.
Former Lord Advocate and Lord Chancellor Lord Mackay of Clashfern and retired senior judge Lord McCluskey were joined by acting Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell in saying that the post was too politicised and would operate better outside of government.
Lord Mackay said it had been a mistake to make the Lord Advocate a member of the Scottish Executive as it meant he was then responsible for the cabinet's decisions as well. In England, the Attorney General is not a member of the cabinet and has not been so for many years.
The claims follow Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson's continued resistance to a full public inquiry into the Shirley McKie fingerprint case and the role of the Scottish Criminal Records Office.
Lord McCluskey suggested that the Lord Advocate could simply decide to stop attending cabinet meetings to win back his independence, while Sir Menzies claimed the McKie case had politicised the Lord Advocate's role and questioned whether that would have an effect on the acceptability of his other roles.