Solicitor to the Scottish Government, Head of the Government Legal Services for Scotland
Murray Sinclair
Murray is the Solicitor to the Scottish Government and Head of the Government Legal Service for Scotland.
Murray joined the then Scottish Office as a legal adviser in 1989. He advised, in particular, on Criminal Justice matters. In 1997 he became part of the Scottish Office's new Constitution Group, the team that delivered devolution for Scotland.
In June 1999 he was promoted to the Senior Civil Service. His Division advised on a broad range of matters, including housing, local government, planning, transport and the environment. Its responsibilities involved providing legal services in relation to, for example, the ECHR challenges to the planning system, the creation of the Scottish Secure Tenancy, setting up the Scottish National Parks, the Glasgow housing stock transfer, providing PR in local government elections, creating Scottish Water and OSCR etc.
In October 2004, he transferred to a policy job, heading the Constitution and Parliamentary Secretariat, with responsibility for, amongst other things, constitutional policy, FOI, the legislative programme, various parliamentary matters and civic participation.
He was promoted to his current post in May 2007.