Break with tradition as QC named as Solicitor General

Published on 24/05/2007 00:20

SCOTLAND'S top law officers were announced yesterday with a surprise appointment for the post of Solicitor General.

Elish Angiolini is to be kept on by the new SNP government as Lord Advocate.

However, in a departure from tradition, a solicitor rather than a member of the Bar, Frank Mulholland, QC, has been chosen as Solicitor General for Scotland.

The appointment means both senior posts are filled by solicitors for the first time - breaking the grip of the Faculty of Advocates on the posts of Scottish law officers.

Despite the title, the role of Solicitor General was filled by an advocate until Ms Angiolini broke the mould in 2001. The Lord Advocate was also traditionally a member of the Bar until she took over from Colin Boyd last year.

Mr Mulholland, 48, a father of one, is from Coatbridge, Lanarkshire. He graduated from Aberdeen and Edinburgh universities.

He joined the procurator fiscal service in 1984. He also worked in units within the Crown Office.

High-profile cases that Mr Mulholland has been involved in include arguing unsuccessfully for the convictions to be upheld of the Glasgow ice-cream war murders. He also secured a unanimous guilty verdict against gas supply company Transco over the deaths of a family of four in Lanarkshire in 1999.