This book provides a detailed account of each law officer's functions and draws on that account as the basis for a conceptual analysis of their constitutional legitimacy. In recent years, the constitutional legitimacy of law officers has been questioned repeatedly because of recurring controversies surrounding the discharge of their varied functions. Indeed, it has become increasingly clear that those functions enable law officers to play a highly influential part in the regulation and exercise of public power throughout the United Kingdom. McCormick argues that the most persuasive framework for analysing the offices which make up this diverse regime involves concentrating on the constitutional values of independence, accountability and trust which underpin it. Both aspects of the book – namely the explanation of individual functions and the conceptual analysis of collective legitimacy – are written in a holistic way which encompasses critical analyses about the Attorney General and Solicitor General for England and Wales; the Counsel General for Wales; the Lord Advocate, Solicitor General and Advocate General for Scotland, as well as the Attorney General and Advocate General for Northern Ireland.

An invaluable reference work of which only 750 copies were originally printed, providing a remarkably complete list of titles published during this most troubled period in Irish history, the period stretching from the passing of the Home Rule Bill in Britain's Parliament, through the raising of rival Unionist and Nationalist volunteer militias in northern and southern Ireland, the Great War, the Easter Rising, and the guerilla war against British forces which led to Irish independence. An incredibly useful book, providing a jumping-off board for anyone wanting to research the political and military history of the era. Publications are listed alphabetically by brief chronological period.