Section 23: Terms of appointment of Attorney General
46.Subsection (2) of this section provides that the local Attorney General cannot be appointed for a period of longer than five years at a time. It would be possible for the First Minister and deputy First Minister to reappoint an individual to the post of Attorney General for Northern Ireland after such a period of five years has come to an end.
47.The effect of subsections (6) to (8) is to disqualify the holder of the post of Attorney General for Northern Ireland from being a member of the House of Commons, the Northern Ireland Assembly or a local authority in Northern Ireland.
48.Subsection (9) makes the local Attorney General subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. This is equivalent to the position of the Attorney General in England and Wales.