Elish Angiolini - Lord Advocate

Lord Advocate

Following the resignation of Lord Boyd, First Minister Jack McConnell nominated Angiolini for the post of Lord Advocate. Her nomination was passed by Parliament on 5 October 2006, with 99 in favour, 0 against and 15 abstentions. She was sworn in at the Court of Session on 12 October 2006 and one month later she was made a member of the Privy Council.

After the 2007 election there was speculation that the new SNP administration might replace Angiolini. However, Alex Salmond, the First Minister, decided that she should stay in post, but would lose her seat in Cabinet. The SNP had committed to making this change as part of their pre-election campaign. She would still have the right to address Cabinet and be present at meetings of the Scottish Parliament. Her reappointment was agreed by Parliament on 24 May 2007. This made her the first Lord Advocate to serve two different governments.

Later in 2007, Angiolini clashed publicly with the head of Scotland's judiciary, Lord President Hamilton, over the collapse of the World's End murders trial. The trial judge, Lord Clarke, had ruled there was insufficient evidence for the jury to convict and threw the case out. Angiolini then made a statement to the Scottish Parliament, saying she was "disappointed" at the decision, a move Hamilton said undermined the independence of the judiciary.

Angiolini announced in October 2010 that she would step down from the role of Lord Advocate after the Scottish Parliament elections in May 2011. Alex Salmond paid tribute to Angiolini, saying "her term as Lord Advocate has been marked by significant improvements and substantial success in the disposal of justice in Scotland". She was succeeded on 19 May 2011 by Frank Mulholland.