Lords Constitution committee: Scottish and Northern Irish perspective on the rule of law

The House of Lords Constitution Committee will be hearing from legal experts from Scotland and Northern Ireland as part of its inquiry into the rule of law  

The session will take place at 10:30am on Wednesday 18 June 2025 and can be followed live on Parliament TV.     

Giving evidence will be: 

• John Larkin KC, former Attorney General for Northern Ireland (2010- 2020)  

• James Wolffe KC, former Lord Advocate of Scotland (2016-2021) 

 Topics the committee is likely to cover include:     

• How does that Attorney General for Northern Ireland and the Advocate General of Scotland work with the UK Government to uphold and promote the rule of law? 

• What are the main threats to the rule of law in Scotland and Northern Ireland?  

• What lessons can the UK Government learn from the Scotland and Northern Ireland about how to effectively address rule of law issues?  

• What work is being done in Scotland and Northern Ireland to address access to justice issues, and how effective is this? 

• How effective are initiatives to improve public understanding of the law in Scotland and Northern Ireland? 

• What effect has devolution had on the complexity and accessibility of the law?