Hansard

I welcome the review and the fact that Lord Cullen has been appointed to undertake it. As many have said, he is an individual with great experience in this field and I wish him well in this undertaking.

Although a review of the 1976 act has been due for some time, when one thinks of the time that it can take to review and reform certain elements of our justice system—when I was on the Justice 1 Committee, we sometimes amended and reformed legislation that was several hundred years old—one can see that the 1976 act is a fairly young piece of legislation. However, I welcome the fact that the growing concern about a number of its provisions that now require to be reformed has been recognised.

The existing statutory grounds for FAIs—death in custody or death in the course of employment—should remain in place, regardless of any other changes or reforms that might take place. There is a possibility that further statutory grounds for an FAI will be created.

I share Keith Brown's concerns about military personnel and I am somewhat surprised that that issue was not addressed earlier. It might be that, as part of the reform of the 1976 act, we should frame any changes so that future changes can be accommodated more rapidly than is the case at the moment; it appears to be a lengthy process. In particular, I hope that an accommodation can be found between the Scottish Government and the Westminster Government in the interests of addressing the concerns of the families of military personnel who have been tragically lost in overseas action.

Families need clarity on the provision of FAIs and who they should turn to when they believe that they have grounds for requesting one. Sadly, in several constituents' cases, I have found some confusion about that. For those of us who have some knowledge of FAIs, it is clear that the matter lies with the Crown Office, but families may be unclear after a trial about what further action they can take to raise concerns and often have little knowledge of how they can pursue a fatal accident inquiry. I hope that Lord Cullen will consider whether to ensure that the Crown proactively informs families when a fatal accident inquiry may be an option, pending its consideration of the case. That would give families greater knowledge and understanding of when they may have the option of pressing for such an inquiry. In my experience, families turn to their elected representatives to lobby on their behalf for a fatal accident inquiry. That does not indicate a system that is working well.

Other members have suggested changes and I throw on the table an option for reform that is similar to the way in which we deal with issues of parental rights and responsibilities. In such cases, an interested party can petition the sheriff to have a matter considered. Perhaps, when an interested party thinks that they have a legitimate reason for requesting a fatal accident inquiry, they could petition the sheriff. The sheriff could consider their views and those of any other interested parties and whether there are grounds for such an inquiry. Although the Crown might not be so keen on that idea, because there is potential for a sheriff to bind the Crown to undertake an inquiry, it would give families greater clarity, as well as the option of making their case before the sheriff.

I have also experienced concern in my constituency about cases that fall outwith the statutory grounds for an FAI, when the Crown can consider whether it is in the public interest for an FAI to be conducted. I have no doubt that Crown Office staff consider such matters seriously, but the public find it extremely difficult to understand what the Crown takes into account when it balances the public interest in such issues. One of the first cases that I dealt with as an MSP, more than eight years ago, was the tragic death of a young constituent, Kathleen Fitzpatrick, who was killed on Falkirk Road in Bonnybridge after leaving the school bus. She passed round the front of the bus and was, sadly, struck and killed by a heavy goods truck. There were issues, such as whether the local procurator fiscal would undertake a criminal prosecution, which in the end did not happen. The family was left with questions about how such a tragic event could have happened to a child coming home on a school bus that they thought she would be safe using. At no point did the Crown offer the possibility of a fatal accident inquiry. It was only through my representations and those of other elected members that eventually, after about a year and a half, the Crown was persuaded that there was public interest in examining the case of a child who, having come home from school on a local authority school bus, had been knocked down and killed just across from her house. There are lessons that could be learned from that.