In its manifesto, the party pledges to “consult on whether the dual functions of [the Lord Advocate], as head of the independent prosecution service and principal legal advisers to the Scottish government should be separated”. 

The role of the Lord Advocate came under intense scrutiny last month during the inquiry into how the Scottish Parliament handled complaints made against former first minister, Alex Salmond.

Scottish Legal News ran a survey on the question of whether the role should be divided.

Of the 350 respondents, 285, or 81.4 per cent voted in favour of division of the Lord Advocate’s role into new ones functionally equivalent to those of attorney general and director of public prosecutions in other jurisdictions.

Forty-two, or 12 per cent, of readers, voted against division while only 6.6 per cent were in favour of preserving but limiting the dual role of the Lord Advocate.

The Scottish Conservatives have made a similar pledge.