Review to ensure Scots law is 'fit for purpose' in wake of World's End trial

Published on Thursday 22 November 2007 01:30

THE biggest review of Scots law for more than a generation was announced yesterday in response to the collapse of the World's End murder trial.

Kenny MacAskill, the justice secretary at Holyrood, said the Scottish Law Commission was to carry out a series of studies aimed at ensuring "an appropriate balance between the rights of the accused and the ability of the Crown to prosecute in the public interest".

The trial of Angus Sinclair for the World's End murders collapsed in September when Lord Clarke threw out the case against the accused, ruling there was not enough evidence for a jury to reach a verdict.

Mr MacAskill has now decided there should be a review of four core tenets of criminal law, to make sure it is "fit for purpose" in the modern age.

The review will cover:

• The double-jeopardy rule, which currently prevents anybody from being tried twice for the same offence;

• The ban on previous convictions and evidence of bad character being brought up in court;

• The ability of a judge to terminate a case without a verdict from a jury, and the lack of a right of appeal in these cases;

• The Moorov doctrine. This relates to the section of Scots law which states no person can be convicted of a crime unless there is evidence from at least two sources implicating the accused. The doctrine allows evidence from a number of witnesses to be used as mutually corroborative if a number of offences are closely linked.

Mr MacAskill's review represents the most wide-ranging examination of the basis of Scots criminal law in living memory.

He said: "Fairness for the victim and the accused is at the heart of any good justice system. But so is public confidence.

"Questions around Crown appeal rights, double jeopardy and previous convictions were raised again after the trial for the World's End murders.

"It is no threat to our justice system to reappraise historic principles such as double jeopardy. It is to ensure our law remains fit for purpose."

Last night, lawyers and politicians gave a cautious welcome to Mr MacAskill's decision to review both the double-jeopardy rule and a judge's unilateral right to end cases, but voiced concern over any suggestion to end the ban on previous convictions being revealed in court.

Bill Aitken, justice spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives, said it was right to look into the double jeopardy rule, particularly in light of forensic and DNA advances which had made retrials more relevant. He also said it was right to review the ability of the Crown to appeal where a judge rules "no case to answer".

But Mr Aitken added: "There are real problems concerning the admissibility of previous convictions as evidence. A person, no matter how depraved their past actions, must be convicted on the basis of evidence relating to the offence they are presently accused of. Otherwise, complexities arise."

Lord Coulsfield, a retired High Court judge, has already spoken out against major changes to Scots criminal law. In response to concerns over the World's End trial collapse, he said

: "The rule we have at present is if the defence attack the character of Crown witnesses, then previous convictions can be introduced for limited purposes.

"I think that rule is quite adequate, if properly interpreted, to cover the problem we have."

On the question of double jeopardy, Lord Coulsfield said the "finality of a court judgment" was one of the pillars of the Scottish legal system. But he said allowing the Crown to appeal a "no case to answer" ruling by a judge would be "a good thing".

A spokeswoman for the Law Society of Scotland said it would examine Mr MacAskill's suggestions in detail.

How infamous murder case proved to be key factor

JUST two months ago, the trial of 62-year-old Angus Sinclair for the World's End murders was halted, after the judge, Lord Clarke, decided that the accused had no case to answer.

Because of the double jeopardy rule - under which no-one can be tried for the same offence twice - the trial can never be resurrected.

Sinclair, already a convicted killer, will not face the murder charges in full and the case will never be heard again.

The collapse of the World's End trial was cited yesterday by Kenny MacAskill, the justice secretary, as the key factor in his review of the law, including the double jeopardy rule.

That 800-year-old principle was abolished in England in 2005, following the passing of the Criminal Justice Act 2003.

Two young women, Christine Eadie and Helen Scott, disappeared after drinking in the World's End pub in Edinburgh's Royal Mile in October 1977.

The following day, their bodies were found separately, on a beach and in a field, in East Lothian. Both women had been beaten and strangled.

No-one had stood trial for the killings until Sinclair appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh in August this year.