Attorney General of Northern Ireland, Dame Brenda King

Dame Brenda King was appointed as Attorney General for Northern Ireland in 2020 and is the chief legal adviser to the Northern Ireland government.  She was educated at Queen’s University Belfast, the University of South Carolina and Cambridge University, specialising in public international law.

After a period in private practice, and later as a legal adviser with the Northern Ireland Office, she joined the Office of the Legislative Counsel, the office responsible for drafting bills of the Northern Ireland Assembly and working with UK departments on Westminster bills.  She was appointed to lead the office as First Legislative Counsel in 2012.   Between 1997 and 1998 she served as a legal adviser at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.  Brenda completed international leadership programmes at the US Federal Executive Office and at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

From 2017 to 2019 she was President of the Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel, working with lawyers and law officers across the Comonwealth to improve the quality of, and access to, legislation.

Brenda has over 30 years’ experience of advising on and drafting primary legislation for Northern Ireland and other jurisdictions and providing advice to Ministers and political parties on complex constitutional and administrative law issues, particularly those relating to the Northern Ireland peace process and devolution settlement.