Supreme court Portfolio
Justice Legal
European Court of Human Rights
Ross Reid Justice Correspondent
Row over Supreme Court powers intensifies
When the SNP was returned to power with
an unprecedented majority at the Scottish Parliament, it was clear relations north and south of the border would be strained at times. It took only weeks into the new term for
acrimony to surface – a schism that had been building within legal circles for some time has now erupted into a bitter constitutional and political fall-out. Te source of the conflict is the impact the
Supreme Court in London has on Scots law. First Minister Alex Salmond and Justice
Secretary Kenny MacAskill have accused the court of “intervening aggressively” in Scotland’s independent legal system following two recent and high-profile rulings that the Scottish system has breached the European
Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in criminal cases. But critics have accused the SNP of using
the rulings to pick a politically-motivated fight with London, instead of facing up to insufficiencies within the domestic legal system.
“We have to abide by the highest international
standards, and if that means that notions of civil and human rights come from
elsewhere, my view is that it enriches Scottish law”
Te controversy centres on the Supreme Court’s power, given to it when it was set up in 2009, to rule solely on whether a Scottish criminal court had breached the ECHR or failed to uphold a defendant’s human rights. Tis power was previously held by the Privy
Council under the Scotland Act 1999. Te court has no power to rule on crimes
or laws passed by the Scottish Parliament – unless they breach the convention. Te feud intensified last month when judges
in London ruled the conviction of Nat Fraser, who was found guilty in 2003 of murdering his wife, Arlene, was unsafe. Te Supreme Court backed his appeal
under Article 6 of the ECHR on the ground of the Crown’s non-disclosure of evidence to the defence. Te Crown accepted the quashing of the
conviction but is seeking a retrial. Te Scottish Government has condemned
the Supreme Court’s “interference” and said its remit threatens the independence of Scots law. Fraser may find out this week if he is to face
a retrial. But problems between the Scottish
Government and the court have been brewing for some time. Last year the Scottish legal system was
thrown into chaos when the court ruled that a suspect, Peter Cadder, had his human rights breached after he was questioned without
13 June 2011 Holyrood 51
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