Tell us three words that sum up your 2023...
Home and away.
...And why you chose those words
It’s not just a once-famous Aussie soap opera from the nineties – but also a reflection of where the Attorney General's Office finds itself today.
Once upon a time – in fact as recently as ten years ago when I last did a stint here – the AGO was considered primarily a domestic department. We focused on advising on UK law and on criminal justice issues. This saw us getting right to the heart of difficult casework and working through the toughest legal issues in UK law.
Today, we still do that, but I’d argue we are also a small but important international department. The number of issues where we need to look at aspects of domestic and international law is growing all the time. We are now part of the foreign policy and national security discussions at the heart of government and often as the only lawyer in the room.
We work alongside partners in the government legal profession on the big legal issues of the day, whether domestically or overseas and often both.
What are your organisational and personal priorities for 2024?
Personally, torture fewer metaphors. Organisationally, to keep trying to build and steer the AGO’s great team as we’re in the middle of some major recruitments. In support of the law officers, we make law and politics work together at the heart of government, and that is both difficult and incredibly interesting. Come and join us!
What’s your favourite festive treat, and what makes you say: ‘Bah, humbug’?
I love the trimmings around the turkey dinner. Like any good Scot, I like mince and I like pies but, for me, mince pies can go straight in the bin.
This is part of CSW's annual perm secs roundup. Read all the entries to the 2023 roundup here