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Advocate General for Northern Ireland
Northern Irish law officer of the Crown
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The advocate general for Northern Ireland is the chief legal adviser to the Government of the United Kingdom on Northern Ireland law and the post is held by the attorney general for England and Wales by virtue of that office. The advocate general and the solicitor general for England and Wales have, in Northern Ireland, the same rights of audience as members of the Bar of Northern Ireland.[1] They are called to the Northern Ireland Bar in order to fulfill these duties.[2]
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- The King (on the advice of the Prime Minister)
| United Kingdom Advocate General for Northern Ireland | |
|---|---|
| |
| Attorney General's Office | |
| Style | The Right Honourable |
| Reports to | The Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Justice |
| Appointer |
|
| Term length | |
| Formation | April 2010 |
| First holder | Patricia Scotland |
| Deputy | Attorney General |
| Website | www.gov.uk |
The advocate general was created as a separate office by the Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002[1] upon the devolution of policing and justice powers to the Northern Ireland Assembly on 12 April 2010.[3]
Unlike the advocate general for Scotland, the position is not supported by a distinct government department. Instead, that support is provided by the civil law and Northern Ireland section within the Attorney General's Office at Westminster.[4][5]
The chief legal adviser to the Northern Ireland Executive is the attorney general for Northern Ireland.[6]
The advocate general retains the power to refer the question of whether a bill passed by the Northern Ireland Assembly to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is within the competence of the Assembly.[7]
List of advocates general
Colour key (for political parties):
Conservative
Labour
| Advocate General | Term of office | Political party | Prime Minister | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Patricia Scotland Baroness Scotland of Asthal |
12 April 2010 | 11 May 2010 | Labour | Brown | ||
 |
Dominic Grieve MP for Beaconsfield |
12 May 2010 | 15 July 2014 | Conservative | Cameron (coalition) | ||
 |
Jeremy Wright MP for Kenilworth and Southam |
15 July 2014 | 9 July 2018 | Cameron | |||
| May | |||||||
 |
Geoffrey Cox MP for Torridge and West Devon |
9 July 2018 | 13 February 2020 | ||||
| Johnson | |||||||
 |
Suella Braverman MP for Fareham |
13 February 2020 | 2 March 2021 | ||||
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Michael Ellis MP for Northampton North (acting) |
2 March 2021 | 10 September 2021 | ||||
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Suella Braverman MP for Fareham |
10 September 2021 | 6 September 2022 | ||||
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Michael Ellis MP for Northampton North |
6 September 2022 | 25 October 2022 | Truss | |||
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Victoria Prentis MP for Banbury |
25 October 2022 | 5 July 2024 | Sunak | |||
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Richard Hermer, Baron Hermer | 5 July 2024 | 20 July 2026 | Labour | Starmer | ||
 |
Ellie Reeves MP for Lewisham West and East Dulwich |
20 July 2026 | Incumbent | Labour | Burnham | ||