| Post: | Advocate General for Northern Ireland |
| Insignia: | Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government) (2022).svg |
| Insigniacaption: | Royal Arms of His Majesty's Government |
| Department: | Attorney General's Office |
| Incumbent: | The Lord Hermer |
| Incumbentsince: | 5 July 2024 |
| Style: | The Right Honourable |
| Appointer: | The King |
| Termlength: | At His Majesty's pleasure |
| First: | Patricia Scotland |
| Formation: | April 2010 |
| Reports To: | The Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Justice |
| Deputy: | Attorney General |
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]
The advocate general was created as a separate office by the Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 2002[2] 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]
The chief legal adviser to the Northern Ireland Executive is the attorney general for Northern Ireland.[5]
Colour key (for political parties):
| Advocate General | Term of office | Political party | Prime Minister | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patricia Scotland Baroness Scotland of Asthal | 12 April 2010 | 11 May 2010 | Labour | |||||
| Dominic Grieve | 12 May 2010 | 15 July 2014 | Conservative | Cameron (coalition) | ||||
| Jeremy Wright | 15 July 2014 | 9 July 2018 | Cameron | |||||
| May | ||||||||
| Geoffrey Cox | 9 July 2018 | 13 February 2020 | ||||||
| Johnson | ||||||||
| Suella Braverman | 13 February 2020 | 2 March 2021 | ||||||
| Michael Ellis (acting) | 2 March 2021 | 10 September 2021 | ||||||
| Suella Braverman | 10 September 2021 | 6 September 2022 | ||||||
| Michael Ellis | 6 September 2022 | 25 October 2022 | Truss | |||||
| Victoria Prentis | 25 October 2022 | 5 July 2024 | Sunak | |||||
| The Lord Hermer | 5 July 2024 | Incumbent | Labour | Starmer | ||||
(incorporating Advocate General for Northern Ireland)