Solicitor advocate Frank Maguire of Thompsons Solicitors has welcomed Alex Salmond’s decision to distance Lord Advocate Eilish Angiolini from the political involvement of attending meetings of the Scottish cabinet on a regular basis.

Mr Maguire said: “Scotland’s justice system will be all the better for Mr Salmond’s decision to distance the Lord Advocate from the political involvement of attending all the meetings of the Scottish Cabinet.

“It means that any legal advice the Lord Advocate gives may be seen as being more independent than might have been the case in the past.”

Constitutionally Scotland’s Lord Advocate remains a member of the Scottish Executive and its legal advisor, as well as being head of the country’s prosecution service.

Mr Maguire added: “Obviously Mr Salmond cannot easily unravel the constitutional issues, which require Westminster legislation, but this is a major step towards restoring the credibility of the Lord Advocate as head of the Scottish prosecution service.”

Mr Salmond announced that he no longer intends to invite the Lord Advocate to attend Scottish Cabinet meetings on a regular basis, because he believes Scotland’s senior law officers should be seen as being independent of any involvements in politics.

His decision came just two days after the Scotsman Newspaper published an article from Mr Maguire calling on the new SNP administration to split the Lord Advocate’s dual role by appointing their own independent legal advisor.