Hansard

Fatal accidents and sudden deaths are unforeseen tragedies. It is hard to comprehend how families and friends can deal with the aftermath of such tragedies. I have an insight into what they go through, as I lost a loved one who was aged only 33. We had to wait for the autopsy and for an investigation to take place before I could start to organise the funeral arrangements. That is an ordeal that many families have to go through. Anything that we can do to help people who are recovering from the sudden death of a loved one is very much in the minds of everyone who supports the proposed reform and modernisation of the fatal accident inquiry legislation in Scotland. The legal process must be clear and understood by all. Families must be at the centre of it, and it must be effective, efficient and fair.

As a member of the Justice Committee, I would like to add my thanks to everyone who participated in our consideration of the bill and helped to make the report what it is. I thank the people and the organisations that came to give evidence for their written submissions, and I thank the committee clerks for their work. I also thank all the members of the committee. The Justice Committee is a committee that works well. It is one on which the Scottish National Party does not have a majority—and I am not talking about the role of the convener. I see that Christine Grahame has left her seat. The strength of the Parliament lies in its committee structure. We scrutinised the bill, which is a proposed

“Act of the Scottish Parliament to make provision for the holding of public inquiries in respect of certain deaths.”

We challenged and questioned not only the Scottish Government but the judicial system and the UK Government.

I want to talk about a change in the bill that our report asked to be made and which the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service has indicated it would be prepared to accept. I will go on to talk about an issue that was brought to our attention during evidence taking. It is an issue that gives rise to a lot of questions, the answer to which concerns a reserved matter, so the UK Government will need to help our Scottish Government to address it. Elaine Murray called it a strange anomaly; I would describe it as another example of Britain’s archaic system. In some areas, a great deal of modernisation is required to make sure that we are up to date. We were very surprised by what we learned from a member of the public who came to see us.

One of the bill’s aims is to strengthen the existing legislation by extending it to cover death abroad, as other members have said. For the first time, on the recommendation of Lord Cullen’s review, it will be possible to have fatal accident inquiries into the deaths of people who are resident in Scotland who die abroad. The bill also makes provision in relation to service personnel who die abroad.

All the witnesses welcomed that new power, but I was concerned that it would exclude cases in which the body could not be brought back to Scotland. I worked in the fishing industry for 30 years and now I represent many constituents from the north-east who work offshore, some of whom work abroad. My experience tells me that fatal accidents and sudden deaths happen—we know that they do—but, for obvious reasons, in those exceptional circumstances there is no way that the body can be brought back to the families. Jake Molloy of the RMT told us that much, and the Solicitor General for Scotland agreed that there should be some flexibility, so I am delighted that the COPFS has reconsidered its position, and I thank the Scottish Government for agreeing to consider the recommendation that we made on page 23 of our report that an amendment be lodged at stage 2.

The second issue, which has already been debated a lot, became a concern for us all in the committee. Flt Lt James Jones, who is a retired member of the Royal Air Force, brought it to our attention. He said in his written submission:

“The interpretation of the current Act, by the Crown Office, discriminates against members of the Armed Forces in that ... They are not regarded as ‘employees’”.

He added:

“Public interest is not given the same importance as in civil accidents”.

I have to admit that I was shocked to hear that members of our armed forces are not considered to be employed by the Ministry of Defence. Why on earth would boys and girls who choose one of the most dangerous vocations on earth, for which we are all thankful, not be given the same protection that we all enjoy?

When Flt Lt Jones came to give evidence in Parliament, he told us that, under the 1976 act, a fatal accident inquiry is mandatory only when the person was acting in the course of their employment or occupation. I asked him to clarify his comments about the MOD investigating itself. He replied:

“it is okay for the MOD or the Military Aviation Authority to do their own inquiries, and ... it is important for them to do that because any immediate problems can be put right, but such inquiries do not replace proper inquiries in the public domain. There is no input to a military inquiry. It is like asking a person who runs a factory in which someone has died because a machine was operated unsafely to carry out their own investigation and to make recommendations, and then taking the factory owner’s report and saying, ‘Thank you very much—that’s fine.’”—[Official Report, Justice Committee, 5 May 2015; c 24.]

That is not fine. I agree with Flt Lt Jones. Members of the armed forces should be employees and have the same rights as employees.

I thank the Scottish Government again for looking at amending the bill to allow the deaths of service personnel in Scotland to fall within its scope. It is too early for me to thank the UK Government to redress the employment status of members of the UK armed forces, but I am very much encouraged by the discussions that are taking place between the two Governments. However, I do not yet share Margaret Mitchell’s optimism.

Modernising and reforming legislation that relates to these matters is our duty as elected representatives. A lot has already been achieved, as members can read in our report.

Families must remain at the centre of the legal process in dealing with fatal accident inquiries. I repeat what Roderick Campbell said. A fatal accident inquiry is what it is: it is an inquiry, not a trial. Let us ensure that members do not give the people of Scotland high expectations of what an FAI is. Understanding that legal process is a start. The Parliament needs to ensure that that process is effective, efficient and fair.