Advocate, Lord, the principal Crown Lawyer in Scotland, and one of the great Officers of State of Scotland. It is his duty to act as public prosecutor; but private individuals injured may prosecute upon obtaining his concurrence. He is assisted by a Solicitor-General and four junior counsel, termed advocates-depute. He has the power of appearing as public prosecutor in any Court in Scotland where any person can be tried for an offence, or in any action where the Crown is interested, but it is not usual for him to act in the inferior Courts, which have their respective public prosecutors, called procurators-fiscal, acting under his instructions. He does not, in prosecuting for offences, require the intervention of a grand jury, except in prosecutions for treason, which are conducted according to the English method. Until the creation of the office of Secretary for Scotland the Lord Advocate was virtually Secretary of State for Scotland. Consult Omond's Lord Advocates of Scotland.
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