King's Advocate

The King's Advocate was one of the Law Officers of the Crown. He represented the Crown in the ecclesiastical courts of the Church of England, where cases were argued not by barristers but by advocates. In the nineteenth century much of the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts was transferred to other courts, firstly the Courts of Probate and Divorce and Matrimonial Causes and eventually the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division of the High Court of Justice. The position of Queen's Advocate remained vacant after the resignation of Sir Travers Twiss in 1872.

Use in colonies and extraterritorial jurisdictions

In some British colonies and extraterritorial British courts, the principal British Government lawyer was called the King's Advocate, Queen's Advocate or Crown Advocate. For example, before the British Supreme Court for China and Japan and in Malta the principal British Government lawyer was called the Crown Advocate. In Cyprus, he was referred to as the King's Advocate. The Attorney General of Sri Lanka was known as the King's Advocate or Queen's Advocate between 1833 and 1884.

incomplete before 1660