| Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission |
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The Commission has the Statutory power to refer cases dealt with on Indictment (''ie'' solemn cases) to the High Court Of Justiciary . This was extended to include summary cases by Statutory Instrument on 31 March 1999 , immediately before the Commission took up its role in April 1999. Though funded by the Scottish Executive Justice Department investigations are carried out independently of Scottish Ministers, with the Commission being accountable to the Scottish Parliament on matters of Finance and Administration . GOVERNANCE AND ADMINISTRATION The Commission is headed by Chief Executive , Gerard Sinclair , and staffed by a Director of Administration, 2 Senior Legal Officers, 10 Legal Officers and 3 admin support staff. Eight Legal Officers and one Senior Legal Officer are required to deal with the Commission's normal case load. In order to review the case of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi , the Commission sought approval from the Scottish Executive Justice Department for the appointment of 2 additional Legal Officers and 1 Senior Legal Officer. The SCCRC has a Board of Management of 7 members appointed by Her Majesty The Queen on the recommendation of the First Minister Of Scotland . Its current members are:
Former SCCRC member, William Taylor QC , who acted as Senior Counsel for Megrahi at the Pan Am Flight 103 Bombing Trial and at his appeal, resigned as a Commissioner on September 23 , 2003 the same day as the SCCRC received an application from solicitors acting on Megrahi's behalf, requesting that it review his conviction. The seven Board members and the Chief Executive are required to work together to ensure that the Commission runs efficiently and effectively. ROLE OF THE COMMISSION The SCCRC's role is to review and investigate cases where it is alleged that a Miscarriage Of Justice may have occurred in relation to Conviction , Sentence or both. The Commission can only review and investigate cases where the conviction and sentence were imposed by a Scottish Court (the High Court , the Sheriff Court or the District Court ), and when the appeal process has been exhausted. Powers The SCCRC can investigate both solemn and summary cases. It will conduct a thorough, independent and impartial review and investigation of all cases accepted for review. The Commission has wide-ranging powers of investigation. After the review has been completed the Commission will decide whether or not the case should be referred to the High Court. If it is decided to refer a case, the case will be heard and determined by the High Court Of Justiciary as if it were a normal appeal. Aims The main aims of the Commission are:
CONFIDENTIALITY AND DISCLOSURE The Commission operates under strict statutory non-disclosure provisions, and cannot disclose any information about individual cases. The Commission can disclose the fact that a case has been referred to the High Court but will not release any information regarding cases in which no referral has been made or in respect of cases under review. STATISTICS In 2003, the latest year for which full statistics are available, there were 130,600 criminal convictions in Scotland. Ninety-eight criminal cases were accepted by the SCCRC and, of these, just twelve were referred to the High Court for reconsideration. Chief Executive, Gerard Sinclair, says that normally the court rules about half the referrals to be a ''miscarriage of justice'' each year, which would equate in 2003 to roughly 0.005% of the total number of Scottish convictions. But, says Sinclair: "Even if it were just one wrongful conviction a year, that would still be one too many." BUDGET AND EXPENDITURE The Scottish Executive Justice Department agreed an SCCRC budget of £1.3m for 2004-05. Expenditure by the Commission in the year ended March 31, 2005 totalled £1,199,398 of which £274,000 related to the review of Mr Megrahi's case. REFERENCES ''The Scotsman'', December 6 , 2005 , Steven Raeburn EXTERNAL LINKS |
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