Committee
Justice 2 Committee, 18 Mar 2003
18 Mar 2003 · S1 · Justice 2 Committee
Item of business
Petitions
Asbestos (PE336)
Yes.
In the same item of business
The Convener:
Lab
I will go through each of the petitions to establish their status. However, first we need to discuss the important matter of petition PE336, which concerns a...
Bill Aitken:
Con
The process has been interesting and a lot has been achieved. When the matter first came to the committee, there was tremendous sympathy for the people who w...
Mr Hamilton:
SNP
The convener, Bill Aitken and the Lord President are to be commended for what they have done on this petition. We have reached the point that is precisely wh...
The Convener:
Lab
Yes.
Mr Hamilton:
SNP
What is the difference between that position and the new procedure?
The Convener:
Lab
The difference is that the new procedure will apply under rule 43.8. The judge must consider that as a matter of policy and must look with sympathy on applic...
Mr Hamilton:
SNP
Once that policy has been decided different procedures do not necessarily mean that those cases prior to April will be leapfrogged in the process. Is that co...
The Convener:
Lab
No.
Gillian Baxendine:
Just for clarity, the other difference for the cases before 1 April is that the Coulsfield provisions will not apply. Those cases will not automatically be t...
Mr Hamilton:
SNP
But for those who are in the pre-April category, the fact that the other cases will take place on a truncated time scale will mean that the queue is shorter ...
The Convener:
Lab
That is right.
Bill Aitken:
Con
Inevitably, the fact that the more recent cases are being dealt with in this manner will have a knock-on effect.
The Convener:
Lab
The by order hearings conducted by Lord Mackay can still proceed for the cases that are pre-April, so that has been successful so far in shortening the timet...
Mr Hamilton:
SNP
Okay. That is fine.
The Convener:
Lab
Ultimately, what we detect—we can get only a sense of what we think is going on—is that the will is there to speed up the pre-1 April cases. However, the pro...
Mr Hamilton:
SNP
I appreciate that. My other question is about the dispute that might surround an application for an accelerated diet and Bill Aitken's comments about rule 43...
The Convener:
Lab
We spent a lot of time asking what that meant. A flavour of what was said to us is that judges would expect a damn good reason from the defence if it did not...
Mr Hamilton:
SNP
That is fine. I was just curious.
The Convener:
Lab
You have asked the same questions that we asked.
Mr Hamilton:
SNP
I do not doubt it.I have one final question on whether the process works. Is there any facility for keeping a note of the statistics? Is there on-going resea...
The Convener:
Lab
The Executive has offered to do that. I think that, in concluding the matter, we should make it clear that the committee expects to work with the Scottish Ex...
Mr Hamilton:
SNP
Who is responsible for the collation of the statistics?
Gillian Baxendine:
The Scottish Executive has offered the services of its research department to help with that, but it is a matter for the court.
Bill Aitken:
Con
The users group is also involved. It will be representative of all parties and will have the figures before it. We should be able to tap into that.
Mr Hamilton:
SNP
Is this part of our legacy paper? Does the paper already state that there will be an on-going review?
Gillian Baxendine:
The legacy paper will have to be updated in the light of this discussion.
Mr Hamilton:
SNP
In that case, I am happy to support that approach.
The Convener:
Lab
We will state in the paper in the strongest possible terms that there will be an on-going review.We are trying to arrange a meeting this week to make the pet...