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Chamber

Meeting of the Parliament 11 February 2026 [Draft]

11 Feb 2026 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Business Motion
Ewing, Fergus Ind Inverness and Nairn Watch on SPTV

I will take an intervention in one minute when I finish this point.

However, section 170 was written not as a work of fiction by Joseph Heller but as a provision by the United Kingdom legislature in 1995. To proceed with his malicious prosecution action, Mr Hirst would have had to have said to Sheriff Paterson, “Please find me guilty and send me to jail, because otherwise I can’t pursue a case for malicious prosecution.” That is plainly absurd. Justice was served and done by his acquittal, but justice was also then denied because of his acquittal.

The right to a free trial is a cornerstone of democracy. It is what protects the citizen against the knock on the door in the middle of the night. It is what protects people from unlawful detention. It is what protects people from the jackboot of totalitarianism. Democracy is based on personal freedom, and where there is no fair trial, freedom does not exist.

I will take the intervention from Mr Kerr.

In the same item of business

The Presiding Officer (Alison Johnstone) NPA
The next item of business is consideration of business motion S6M-20749, in the name of Graeme Dey, on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau, which sets out a b...
Fergus Ewing (Inverness and Nairn) (Ind) Ind
I wish to raise a matter of some considerable importance. I have given notice and a draft copy of my speech to the Presiding Officer, the Cabinet Secretary f...
Liam Kerr (North East Scotland) (Con) Con
Will the member take an intervention?
Fergus Ewing Ind
I will take an intervention in one minute when I finish this point.However, section 170 was written not as a work of fiction by Joseph Heller but as a provis...
The Presiding Officer NPA
I say at this point that this item is to seek changes to future business, and it is important that that is borne in mind.
Liam Kerr Con
Perhaps I may assist then, Presiding Officer. I remind members that I am a practising solicitor.Clearly, if Scots law breaches the right to a fair trial unde...
Fergus Ewing Ind
Indeed. I will cut to the chase, Presiding Officer. I appreciate—and I have communicated this to the Minister for Parliamentary Business—that there is not en...
Rachael Hamilton (Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con) Con
Presiding Officer, I did not give you prior notice of my intent to speak. In relation to the business programme, I ask for parliamentary time to be scheduled...
The Presiding Officer NPA
I call the Minister for Parliamentary Business to respond on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau.17:17
The Minister for Parliamentary Business and Veterans (Graeme Dey) SNP
I thank Fergus Ewing both for the advance notice of his intention to air the matter that he did and for the accompanying detail that he provided.The Governme...
Fergus Ewing Ind
I accept the argument that Mr Dey has produced—that we wait until February 2026—but I cannot see why, after February 2026, there should not be a ministerial ...
Graeme Dey SNP
I am making the point that, if we get into the situation that I have referred to, there will have to be careful consideration of the judgment and any action ...
Rachael Hamilton Con
Will the minister take an intervention?
The Presiding Officer NPA
The minister has concluded.The question is, that motion S6M-20749 be agreed to.Motion agreed to,That the Parliament agrees—(a) the following programme of bus...