§ Mr. Tim Smithasked the Solicitor-General for Scotland if the Lord Advocate will publish an annual report of his Department's work.
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§ The Solicitor-General for ScotlandThe Lord Advocate is responsible for the Crown Office in Edinburgh and the procurator fiscal service, whose work relates mainly to prosecutions and inquiries into sudden deaths. Some information is already provided in the annual published criminal judicial statistics for Scotland. He is also responsible for the Lord Advocate's Department in London, which is largely concerned with confidential advice on specific legal questions and drafting of Scottish legislation, and also for certain functions carried out by the Scottish courts administration in Edinburgh. This work is unsuitable for review in an annual report but I am considering whether an annual report on the work of the Crown Office and the procurator fiscal service would justify the cost involved in its production.
The Scottish Law Commission, in respect of which the Lord Advocate has certain responsibilities, and the Council on Tribunals, whose Scottish committee he appoints, each issues an annual Report which is published.