Committee
Public Petitions Committee 23 February 2016
23 Feb 2016 · S4 · Public Petitions Committee
Item of business
Continued Petitions
Judiciary (Register of Interests) (PE1458)
The petitioner has suggested that the committee write to Professor Alan Paterson of the University of Strathclyde, who has apparently done some independent academic research on the subject. It might be as well writing to the Lord President and asking him to consider whether he would appear before the committee. That might also be something for the legacy paper. We should also suggest that the committee invites Professor Alan Paterson to give some independent academic scrutiny of what has been requested in the petition. I spent half an hour this morning trying to get the updated register of interests of judicial members of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service. I am assured that it is on the site somewhere, but although I tried for half an hour this morning, it was impossible to find. The latest register of interests that I have comes from last year and so is not up-to-date enough to include Lord Carloway. I know that he registered no interests when he was Lord Justice Clerk. We have been told that there are safeguards in place, but it would be useful to know how the general public get the information that they are looking for. If it is difficult to get the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service judicial service register, it raises other questions about where we are going and whether we are making it more difficult for people to find out judicial interests. The former Judicial Complaints Reviewer, Moi Ali, has recently written to The Scotsman, urging the establishment of a register—just as she did when she gave evidence. The current Judicial Complaints Reviewer has also said that it would be helpful to have a register of judicial interests. I would like to think that the future Public Petitions Committee could take the issue forward and invite Lord Carloway and others to come and give evidence, perhaps answering some of the questions that arise further down the road.
In the same item of business
The Convener
Lab
PE1458, which was brought by Peter Cherbi, is on a register of interests for members of Scotland’s judiciary. We have written to the new Lord President, who...
Kenny MacAskill (Edinburgh Eastern) (SNP)
SNP
There is clearly still debate about the matter. It was the Judicial Complaints Reviewer who initially indicated a change in tack, which was upheld. Where we...
The Convener
Lab
There are still issues to be debated and it would be useful to get the new Lord President’s views on the record. The question is whether we, as an out-going ...
Kenny MacAskill
SNP
I would be inclined to leave it in the legacy paper on the basis that we have had a reasonably full letter from Lord Carloway. If we were to squeeze him in w...
John Wilson
Ind
The petitioner has suggested that the committee write to Professor Alan Paterson of the University of Strathclyde, who has apparently done some independent a...
The Convener
Lab
The suggestion is that we put it in our legacy paper and write to Professor Paterson, as John Wilson suggested, so that his response would be available to th...
Kenny MacAskill
SNP
I am fine with that. It would also be up to the future committee to consider what will be on-going in the United States of America, where judicial declaratio...
The Convener
Lab
It is interesting to watch what is happening there and compare it.