Rumours of the political death of the Attorney-General, Nicholas Lyell MP QC, have so far been greatly exaggerated.

Pundits have been predicting his demise ever since the collapse of the Matrix Churchill arms-to-Iraq case in November 1992.

Back in 1994, the Daily Mail pronounced that 'almost everyone in government realises that Sir Nicholas is a dead duck'.

The Sunday Telegraph reported: 'The word in Westminster is that Sir Nicholas Lyell QC will not be much longer in his job.' If a week is a long time in politics, two years shows remarkable longevity.Even if Sir Nicholas is forced finally to resign when the findings of the Scott inquiry are made public this week, he has proved to be remarkably resilient.

Some say cynically that he has been kept in post in the face of government re-shuffles just in case Sir Richard Scott demands a sacrificial victim.

In this vein, it was predicted in the press last week that, when Sir Richard reports, Sir Nicholas will be 'the learned scapegoat', or, more bluntly, 'toast'.

However, given his survival record to date .

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and the government's likely desire to avoid the fall-out of a high-profile resignation .

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few would put very much money on his departure.

For all the adverse coverage he has had over recent years, even Sir Nicholas' worst enemies struggle to find a bad word to say about him personally.

One solicitor, who is seeking to challenge one of Sir Nicholas' rulings, says: 'I actually do believe him to be a nice human being, although perhaps a little brittle.' A fellow lawyer-cum-politician says: 'He is a perfectly agreeable man.

He is not malicious or spiteful or unkind.' But if on a personal level Sir Nicholas is at worst damned with faint praise, professionally it is a different story.

One of the more polite comments is: 'He hasn't been a very good Attorney-General; rather clueless.' Some claim that he has struggled with the role because, as a commercial and employment barrister, he had no experience of the criminal law which makes up such a large part of the Attorney-General's remit.

A leading barrister says: 'I think he has done a very good job in getting up the learning curve, but his lack of background in crime has added to his difficulties at some stages.' One solicitor believes that Sir Nicholas has struggled to reconcile the sometimes opposing demands for an Attorney-General to be both lawyer and politician.

'The fact that someone is a nice person doesn't necessarily make them suited to what is a fairly schizophrenic and difficult role.' Sir Nicholas' somewhat bumbling niceness was illustrated by an encounter at a recent Bar Council meeting.

Sir Nicholas approached someone he took to be a young barrister, presumably to offer a few warm words of greeting and encouragement, only to be told that the young man in question was, in fact, from the Bar's public relations company.

'In that case, I'd better not talk to you,' said the Attorney-General, before rushing off.

Sir Nicholas regularly attends such weekend Bar meetings and seems careful to maintain his links with the Bar.

He also chairs its annual general meeting.

Despite his continued involvement in Bar business, observers say Sir Nicholas is regarded by some as being out of touch with the law.

One says: 'He's probably taken more seriously as a lawyer than the likes of Ivan Lawrence or Paul Boateng, but that's not saying much.' He is also accused by some at the Bar, who are clearly not impartial in these matters, of not making a stand against his cabinet colleagues over administration of justice issues.

'He could have shown more leadership over sentencing.

There is a feeling he ought to have taken more of a line, which he hasn't done, at least not publicly,' says a leading bar rister.

'He is liked at the Bar but not seen as a very strong character.' Nor is he seen as having been a particularly outstanding barrister during his years of practice.

One solicitor says: 'Formerly, the greatest lawyers in the land were Attorneys-General.' A barrister says: 'He was at a very leading set.

Inevitably, if you're in the same chambers as Bob Alexander, you may be eclipsed whoever you are.

But Nick is seen only as middle ranking.' As a general rule, in his role as Attorney-General, Sir Nicholas is criticised by lawyers for being too much the politician and by politicians for being too much the lawyer.

His advice during the Matrix Churchill trial that ministers had a duty to sign public interest immunity certificates (see p.18) .

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which is expected to be strongly criticised by Sir Richard .

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is subject to diverse and mutually exclusive interpretations which reflect this divide.

Depending on whom you ask he slavishly followed the letter of the law without appreciating what the political fall-out would be, or he ignored the legal position and gave advice based solely on political expedience.

In media interviews he is prone to sounding pompous.

Just before giving evidence to the Scott inquiry, he told journalists he had acted with 'with some skill' in advising ministers not to disclose documents in the Matrix Churchill trial and that he would 'stand like a lighthouse in a storm', as Attorneys-Generals had done down the centuries.

One lawyer-cum-politician snorted: 'If he's the lighthouse, I'd rather not take the boat out.' Even on more familiar turf at the Scott inquiry, he fared little better.

The Guardian reported that he produced 'a rambling and incoherent defence of his role in the arms-to-Iraq scandal'.

A solicitor who watched his performance was similarly unimpressed: 'He was pushed about all over the place.

He couldn't stand up for himself.

He couldn't answer for himself.'Although Sir Nicholas may not be an adept performer, his canny handling of the media has been a factor in his survival so far.

Despite pressure from some quarters, Sir Nicholas refused to try to rein in the press over its arguably lurid coverage of some criminal trials.

This reticence may be one reason why he has not been too badly mauled by the press.

Some believe that Sir Nicholas' ability to keep his head down is a sign of intelligence.

It remains to be seen whether such an approach can save him this time.