This article appears as part of the Unspun: Scottish Politics newsletter.
A row over an email sent by the Lord Advocate to the First Minister informing him of the details of charges faced by the former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell has reignited a debate on whether the role of Scotland's chief prosecutor should be reformed.
The note from Dorothy Bain KC to John Swinney emerged yesterday to criticism from opposition parties who claimed the SNP was being handed a political advantage as the party's leader was given information contained in the indictment against Mr Murrell when no other party leaders were.
Ms Bain was forced to deny allegations of political interference and even corruption as she told MSPs on Wednesday that she was simply giving the information to the First Minister in a bid to remind him of the rules around contempt of court should he be asked about the case.
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She also insisted it was routine for the Lord Advocate to update the First Minister on High Court indictments and promised to give MSPs examples of other cases when she had done so.
Setting aside the details of the row about the email relating to Mr Murrell's indictment the controversy brings into focus the dual role of the Lord Advocate.
The nub of the critics' accusations is that the relationship between the Lord Advocate and the Scottish Government is too cosy and there should be greater distance between the head of the prosecution service and Scottish ministers to ensure there is no political interference - or even an appearance of it - in decision-making.
In other jurisdictions, eg in England and Wales, the head of the prosecution service and the government's chief legal adviser are held by different people.
Currently, the head of the prosecution service in England and Wales is Stephen Parkinson, while the government's chief legal adviser is Lord Hermer KC, who is also a member of the government, holding the role of Attorney General.
However, in Scotland both these roles - the head of the prosecution service and the government's chief legal adviser - are held by the single person the Lord Advocate, currently Dorothy Bain KC, who is a member of the government and can attend Cabinet.
For years the situation provoked little public attention but that changed when Alex Salmond was prosecuted for sex offences - he was later acquitted of all charges - and when Police Scotland's Operation Branchform into SNP finances got underway.
It was then that the arrangement did seem to have the potential to place the Lord Advocate, as the chief prosecutor, in a position where he or she could be vulnerable to accusations of not being neutral.
Hence James Wolffe KC, who was Lord Advocate when Mr Salmond was prosecuted, and Ms Bain, withdrew from the successive decisions over Mr Salmond and Operation Branchform, the police inquiry where the former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and her husband Mr Murrell were under investigation.
Ms Sturgeon is no longer under investigation while Mr Murrell was charged in April 2024.
He appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in March last year and was granted bail. He is due to appear in court again on May 25 this year.
In both the Salmond and the Operation Branchform cases Mr Wolffe and Ms Bain recused themselves from the decision-making processes leaving the decisions in the cases to other senior prosecution staff.
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Whether or not this is an ideal state of affairs is a matter of public debate.
Surely the point can be made that the chief prosecutor, rather than pulling out of the most high profile cases or ones revolving around senior politicians because of a perception over a conflict of interest, should really be the very person leading the way on these prosecutions.
But clearly that cannot happen unless the Lord Advocate's dual role is reformed.
With both Labour and Reform UK among those calling for a shake up of the post these demands are likely to ramp up as Scotland heads to the polls in May.
