Lord Advocate brings prosecutors to heel

The Lord Advocate, James Wolffe QC (pictured), has made it clear that prosecutors do not have discretion in applying the law.

Delivering the annual APEX Scotland lecture in the Signet Library, he said: “I prefer to speak of professional prosecutorial judgment.

“Prosecutors do not exercise discretion, rather they exercise professional skill in assessing the evidence in the light of the relevant law.”

He added that while professionals may sometimes disagree, he “would not regard it to be desirable in our national prosecution service for different prosecutors to apply materially different approaches to similar offending, without good reason”.

In an opinion issued last month on an appeal against a rape conviction, Lord Malcolm expressed disapproval of an advocate depute’s conduct and suggested there is “a broader question as to the ethos and culture in the prosecuting authority” after the Crown argued none of the prosecutor’s comments were prejudicial to the fairness of the proceedings.

In April, Holyrood’s Justice Committee found that there were differing views on