This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Nomination for Lord Advocate
05/10/2006
The Solicitor General Elish Angiolini has been nominated as Scotland's new Lord Advocate, the country's most senior law officer, by First Minister Jack McConnell.
MSPs in the Scottish Parliament today approved the nomination by voting 99 in favour with none against and 15 abstensions.
The Lord Advocate is appointed by the Queen following the recommendation of the First Minister.
Ms Angiolini has been Solicitor General for the last five years and will become the first woman to serve as Lord Advocate in 500 years.
She will replace Lord Boyd of Duncansby, Colin Boyd QC, who resigned yesterday.
The Lord Advocate is a member of the Cabinet and the government's principal legal adviser.
Mr McConnell told MSPs:
"In Scotland's Lord Advocate I want to have a moderniser, someone who will support and understand implementation of this government's policy but also someone who will be honest and consistent in the legal advice they give to the Cabinet and to Ministers even when we don't like it.
"I want someone who will make independent decisions on prosecution with the integrity that the holder of this office has always had to have.
"Elish Angiolini was Scotland's first female Solicitor General, she was the first ever regional fiscal to be appointed to the post, she was the first solicitor for hundreds of years. She has met every challenge in her job and has increasingly won the confidence of even those who had originally held reservations about her appointment.
"I am delighted therefore today to confirm that I want to continue the reform and modernisation of our courts and justice service. That I want to continue to have an independent but increasingly more effective Scottish prosecution service. That I want to ensure the rights and interests of victims and witnesses are at the heart of our justice service.
I am therefore seeking the support of the Scottish Parliament for the nomination of Elish Angiolini as the next Lord Advocate of Scotland, and the first ever woman to hold the post."
The First Minister has also nominated John Beckett QC for the post of Solicitor General and this was also approved by the Parliament.
Mr Beckett is currently Principal Advocate Depute and was educated at the University of Edinburgh. He was called to the bar in 1993, has served as an Advocate Depute and a Senior Advocate Depute since 2003. He took Silk in 2005.