Ministerial role

HM Advocate General for Scotland

Organisations: Office of the Advocate General for Scotland
Current role holder: Baroness Smith of Cluny KC

Responsibilities

Advocate General for Scotland

The Advocate General for Scotland is one of the Law Officers of the Crown, who advise the government on Scots law.

Responsibilities include:

  • Oversight of Schedule 6 to the Scotland Act 1998 relating to ‘devolution issues’ raised before courts or tribunals in Scotland
  • The Advocate General can choose to intervene, on behalf of the UK government, in proceedings in which devolution issues have been raised if she so decides
  • The Office of the Advocate General considers all Scottish Parliament Bills as they progress, in consultation with interested UK government departments, to assess their legislative competency. Under section 33 of the Scotland Act, the Advocate General has the power to refer Scottish Parliament Bills to the Supreme Court for decisions on their legislative competence

Current role holder

Baroness Smith of Cluny KC

Catherine Smith KC was appointed as Advocate General for Scotland in August 2024. She was appointed to the House of Lords in October 2024.

Catherine was called to the Bar in 2007 and took silk in 2021. She acted as a part-time Sheriff and sat on the Scottish Civil Justice Council. She was Standing Junior Counsel to the Advocate General from 2012 – 2021 and conducted many cases representing the UK government. She is one of only two advocates in Scotland to have acted as Counsel to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal and has been on the Equality and Human Rights Commission Panel of Counsel since 2015.  

Catherine has had a varied career at the Bar, specialising in criminal law in the early years and later working in public law, personal injury and clinical negligence. She has also conducted public inquiries, including representing COSLA and 29 of the 32 Scottish local authorities in the UK and Scottish Covid Inquiries.

Catherine is a founding member and former Deputy Chair of JUSTICE Scotland. She is co-founder and Chair of the John Smith Centre at the University of Glasgow. She has travelled extensively in the post-Soviet states to support human rights focused activities, including visiting Kyiv and Warsaw in the last year.

More about this person

Previous holders of this role

  1. Lord Stewart of Dirleton KC

    2020 to 2024

  2. The Rt Hon Lord Keen of Elie KC

    2015 to 2020

  3. The Rt Hon Lord Wallace of Tankerness KC

    2010 to 2015