Straw: Lockerbie bomber's fate may be out of ministers' hands

Published on Thursday 14 February 2008 21:08

SCOTTISH ministers may not have the final say on the fate of the Lockerbie bomber, Jack Straw, the UK Justice Minister, has admitted.

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi can appeal under a prisoner transfer agreement (PTA) between Libya and the UK to serve the remainder of his sentence in his home country.

And although Scottish ministers will view the application in the first instance, Megrahi could ask for a judicial review of their decision – placing it in the hands of the courts.

Mr Straw had previously insisted the final decision would lie with Holyrood – but it has emerged that, in a letter to Alex Salmond, the First Minister, he wrote: "A decision in relation to the transfer of a prisoner under the terms of the PTA may be subject to a judicial review."

Last night, Professor Robert Black – who was instrumental in organising the trial which saw Megrahi convicted of bombing Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie on 21 December, 1988 – said if the exemption had been included, there would be no chance of a judicial review.

He said that because of the agreement, Scottish ministers would have to give serious consideration to an application from Megrahi and, if they rejected it, he could go to the courts.

However, Prof Black added that, for a successful judicial review, the court would have to believe no reasonable government could have refused the application.

Last autumn, a spokesman for the Scottish Government said that Mr Straw had agreed with Mr Salmond that such a clause should be included, but in December it emerged the UK government had "changed its mind".

The row between Westminster and Holyrood has been ongoing since, and was further inflamed yesterday when Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish justice secretary, claimed the Scottish Government had been "undermined" in negotiations over the PTA.

Meanwhile, Mr Salmond called on all correspondence between Westminster and Holyrood to be made public.

Mr Straw said the Scottish Government's argument that the decision was open to review was "curious if not desperate", adding: "Alex Salmond seems to be arguing he doesn't want discretion over this. Any ministerial decision is susceptible to judicial review, but courts are not there to make decisions for ministers. They are there to make sure decisions are made lawfully."