Scottish party to challenge UK supreme court

THE UK supreme court should not be able to review human-rights judgments made in Scottish courts, Scottish National Party ministers are expected to decide this week in a further sign of the SNP’s desire to weaken links with London.

“Scotland’s distinct legal system, including our criminal law, has served our country well for centuries, ensuring justice for victims while also protecting the rights of those accused of a crime,” Scottish justice secretary Kenny MacAskill said yesterday.

Scottish judgments should be appealed, where necessary, to the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights, he said. “We believe the UK supreme court should have no role in matters of Scots criminal law – a view supported by Scotland’s leading legal figures.”

Mr MacAskill, along with Scotland’s lord advocate, Frank Mulholland, are to debate the issue in the Scottish cabinet tomorrow, following first minister Alex Salmond’s complaints the supreme court is “second-guessing” Scotland’s judiciary.

Last week the supreme court ruled that Scottish prosecutors had breached the rights to a fair trial of Nat Fraser, who was convicted in 2003 of killing his wife in 1998. Her body has never been found. The London judges found in favour of Mr Fraser after it emerged prosecutors had been told by police that Ms Fraser may have left her rings in the couple’s bathroom, even though they told the court that Mr Fraser had removed them from her body.