Lord Mulholland | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Senator of the College of Justice | |
| Assumed office 15 December 2016 | |
| Nominated by | Nicola Sturgeon AsFirst Minister |
| Monarchs | Elizabeth II Charles III |
| Preceded by | Lord Stewart |
| Lord Advocate | |
| In office 19 May 2011 – 1 June 2016 | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| First Minister | Alex Salmond Nicola Sturgeon |
| Deputy | Lesley Thomson (Solicitor General) |
| Preceded by | Lady Elish Angiolini |
| Succeeded by | James Wolffe |
| Solicitor General for Scotland | |
| In office 19 May 2007 – 19 May 2011 | |
| First Minister | Jack McConnell Alex Salmond |
| Preceded by | John Beckett |
| Succeeded by | Lesley Thomson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Francis Mulholland[1] (1959-04-18)18 April 1959 (age 66) Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, Scotland |
| Political party | None[2] |
| Residence(s) | Livingston, Scotland |
| Alma mater | University of Aberdeen(LL.B.,Dip.L.P.)University of Edinburgh(MBA) |
| Occupation | Advocate |
| Profession | LawyerJudge |
Francis Mulholland, Lord Mulholland,CBE, PC (born 18 April 1959) is aScottish judge who has been aSenator of the College of Justice since 2016. He previously served from 2011 to 2016 asLord Advocate, one of theGreat Officers of State of Scotland and the country's chiefLaw Officer, and asSolicitor General, the junior Law Officer.[3]
He was the firstAdvocate Depute and Senior Advocate Depute appointed from within theProcurator Fiscal Service, and only the second non-advocate appointed to the office of Lord Advocate, the first being his predecessor,Elish Angiolini. He was installed as a Senator of the College of Justice in December 2016,[4] having served as atemporary judge for the previous 3 months.[5]
During his career he appeared for the Crown in the 2004Glasgow Ice Cream Wars appeals, prosecuted the significantHM Advocate v Transco case in 2005, the first ever prosecution of a public limited company forculpable homicide in the country, and oversaw prosecution of the infamous 2007World's End murder trial, which collapsed due to insufficient evidence and resulted in a public dispute between the Lord Advocate of the time,Elish Angiolini, and theLord Justice General,Lord Hamilton.[citation needed]
Mulholland was born on 18 April 1959 inCoatbridge,[6] to Charles and Jean Mulholland. He attended St Bernard's Primary School and Columba High School (now defunct) in Coatbridge. He studied at theSchool of Law of theUniversity of Aberdeen, graduating with anLL.B. in 1981 andDiploma in Legal Practice in 1982, and completed his traineeship with Bird, Semple and Crawford Herron, Solicitors, Glasgow, being admitted as asolicitor in 1984, at which time he joined theProcurator Fiscal Service.[3]
Mulholland's first posting was as a Procurator Fiscal Depute atGreenock, before being transferred to the same post atGlasgow in 1987.[3] He remained there until 1991, when he was transferred to theCrown Office, working as a solicitor in theHigh Court Unit.[3] He became aNotary Public (NP) in 1992 and joined theSociety of Solicitors in the Supreme Courts of Scotland in 1993.[6] In 1994, he moved from the Crown Office's High Court Unit to its Appeals Unit, and in 1995 qualified as asolicitor-advocate.[2]
In 1997, he became the first member of the Procurator Fiscal service to be appointed anAdvocate Depute,[3] a lawyer charged with prosecuting in theHigh Court in the name of theLord Advocate. He also graduated that year from theUniversity of Edinburgh with a degree ofMaster of Business Administration (MBA).[6] He became Assistant Procurator Fiscal atEdinburgh in 1999 and District Procurator Fiscal in 2000.[3]
He remained in office at Edinburgh until 2003, when he returned to the ranks of Crown Counsel as theSenior Advocate Depute. He prosecuted theHM Advocate v Transco plc, the first prosecution of a public limited company for culpable homicide in Scotland, and represented the Crown in the successful 2004 appeals by Thomas Campbell and Joe Steele, convicted over the so-calledGlasgow Ice Cream Wars. He was appointedQueen's Counsel (QC) in 2005,[6] in the same round of appointments asJohn Beckett, whom he would later succeed asSolicitor General.[7]
In January 2006, Mulholland was appointed byLord AdvocateColin Boyd as Area Procurator Fiscal forLothian and Borders, the head of the Procurator Fiscal Service in thatsheriffdom.[3][8][9] In this role, he oversaw the high-profile trial for the 1977World's End murders,[3] which was thrown out of court by the trial judge,Lord Clarke, due to a lack of evidence. The Lord Advocate at the time,Elish Angiolini, made a statement to theScottish Parliament, saying she was "disappointed" at the decision. This was criticised byLord Justice GeneralLord Hamilton, head of the Scottish judiciary, who said it undermined theindependence of the judiciary.[10][11]
Following the2007 Scottish election, newly electedSNPFirst MinisterAlex Salmond appointed Mulholland to succeedLabour Party member[12]John Beckett asSolicitor General, the junior of the twoLaw Officers of the Crown in Scotland. Beckett, who had been junior defence counsel forAbdelbaset al-Megrahi in theLockerbie trial, was subsequently appointed a floating sheriff.[13]
The SNP government said at the time that they believed Mulholland to have no political affiliation.[2] His appointment was approved by theScottish Parliament without the need for a vote[14] and he was sworn in as Solicitor General at a ceremony at theCourt of Session on 30 May 2007. His appointment was significant in that it was the first time neither the Lord Advocate nor the Solicitor General had been a member of theFaculty of Advocates.[15] Both were invited to join the faculty by its dean,Richard Keen, in October 2008.[16]
Whilst Solicitor General, he formed the new Serious and Organised Crime Division within the Crown Office,[17] as well as leading the successful prosecution ofPeter Tobin in 2007 for the 1991 murder of fifteen-year-old Vicky Hamilton.[18]
Mulholland was appointedLord Advocate, the senior Law Officer in Scotland, following the2011 Scottish Parliament election. He succeededElish Angiolini and his appointment was agreed by the Scottish Parliament on 25 May.[19] He was succeeded as Solicitor General byLesley Thomson, Area Procurator Fiscal for Glasgow. On 13 July 2011, Mulholland was appointed to thePrivy Council.[20]
Mulholland was appointedCommander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the2017 New Year Honours for services to law in Scotland for his service as Lord Advocate.[21]
On 11 May 2016 it was announced that he was to be appointed aSenator of the College of Justice, his appointment to take effect later in the year.[22]
On 1 September 2016, Mullholland was appointed as atemporary judge of the Court of Session, to fill the gap caused by Lady Smith's appointment as chair to theScottish Child Abuse Inquiry.[5] TheJudicial Office for Scotland announced that "Judge Mulholland will not hear any criminal case in which, by reason of his previous role as Lord Advocate and head of the prosecution service, he would require to recuse himself; nor any civil case involving the Scottish government which, given his former role as the Scottish government's principal legal adviser, he would again need to recuse himself. The requirement for Judge Mulholland to recuse himself will, of course, diminish over time."[5]
On 15 December 2016, Mulholland was formally installed as a permanent Senator of the College of Justice, taking the judicial title ofLord Mulholland.[4][23] He replacedLord Stewart, who had retired.[5]
In 2021 Mulholland's successor as Lord Advocate apologised to Paul Clark and David Whitehouse for the decision to prosecute them in 2015[24] over the takeover ofRangers football club.[25] In a statement to the Scottish Parliament,[25]James Wolffe QC said the prosecution had taken place withoutprobable cause and was malicious. Damages of over £20 million were awarded to Green and Whitehouse. The former Labour MP SirBrian Donohoe subsequently called on Mulholland to step down as a Senator of the College of Justice, saying his reputation had been badly damaged by the scandal.[26]
In June 2013, he was awarded an honorary degree from theUniversity of Aberdeen by theDuchess of Rothesay.[27]
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| Preceded by | Solicitor General for Scotland 2007–11 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Lord Advocate 2011–2016 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Senator of the College of Justice 2016–present | Incumbent |
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