Ancient double jeopardy law to be scrapped

• Morain Scott has been waiting 33 years for a conviction of the man who raped and murdered his daughter Helen

Scottish Government sources have made it clear they intend to bring forward a bill in late September to scrap the law preventing a person standing trial twice for the same crime.

The bill to be brought forward by Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill will go much further than the limited changes in the law recommended following a review by the Scottish Law Commission (SLC).

The Scotsman understands that Mr MacAskill, who has cross-party support for the changes, intends to make the bill retrospective allowing cases from the past to be retried, a move which had been opposed by the commission.

The bill will mirror the Criminal Justice Act 2003 which ended the 800-year rule of double jeopardy barring retrials in England and Wales when new evidence came to light.

The change south of the Border was retrospective and has already been used successfully to bring rapists and murderers to justice in England.

Following a review last year, the SLC recommended the 800-year-old principle of "double jeopardy" should be set out in law and clarified.

The Commission made no recommendation on whether this should allow for retrial if new evidence emerged, but it said any change in legislation should not be retrospective.

The proposals were put out to public consultation in March this year.

But now the Scottish Government has indicated it is willing to go further than the SLC recommendations and apply the changes retrospectively, allowing those already cleared to be put on trial again. The move by the Scottish Government has brought new hope to Morain Scott, who is now in his 80s and has been waiting for 33 years for a conviction of the man who brutally raped and murdered his daughter and her friend Christine Eadie, both 17, after a night out in Edinburgh in 1977.

• Questions raised after World's End collapse

A case brought three years ago against Angus Sinclair, who is already a convicted killer, for the World's End murders – named after the Old Town pub the two girls were last seen in – was thrown out by a judge for lack of evidence.

However, a new case against Sinclair could not be brought because of the double jeopardy law and a review of the 800-year-old defence was brought forward as a result.

Yesterday Mr Scott told The Scotsman: "I am very hopeful now that we will get justice at last for Helen and for Christine.

"We have had to wait 33 years and I fear we will still have some time to wait before we get justice because it will take time to pass this law and to then get the evidence together for a retrial.

"I am sure that there will be legal objections to it and so forth, but at least there seems to be progress now.

"When Helen's mother died I promised her that I would never give up trying to get justice."

• Consign law to the scrapheap of history

A Scottish Government spokesman yesterday said that they would not officially publish details of the bill until the Autumn. But he said: "Double jeopardy is over 800 years old but the law needs to be modernised to ensure that it is fit for 21st century standards of justice in Scotland.

"We consulted earlier this year on proposals to reform the law in areas where new evidence comes to light, and we will set our detailed and considered legislative proposals in the autumn."

Leading Scottish QC Paul McBride, who is also a member of the Scottish Conservatives, a supporter of the bill, said he believed that the World's End case would be "one of the first to be reopened" once a new law is put in place.

He said that even though he believes he is in a minority in the legal fraternity, cases such as the World's End meant that it was time to change the law.

The Scottish Government will not have much time to get the new law passed, because it will have to be done before parliament is dissolved for the Holyrood election in May.

However, it is understood that the Scottish Government is confident that it can get the legislation through because it has already had a long consultation process and there is wide support for a change of the law among other parties.

Yesterday Labour signalled its intention to back the new law and make the bill retrospective to allow for retrials.

Labour justice spokesman Richard Baker had been highly critical of the Scottish Law Commission's recommendation against retrospection.

He said: "Labour has been calling for a reform of double jeopardy for some time as the justice system needs to be rebalanced to take more account of the needs of victims of crime.

"I would like to see legislation introduced as soon as parliament returns in September.

"The failure of the prosecution of Angus Sinclair, who was tried for the World's End murders, demonstrated the clear need to update the law in this area."

It is also understood that Mr MacAskill intends to bring forward a bill closer to the English legislation in terms of what cases can be retried.

The commission had suggested the change be limited to cases of rape and murder, but Mr MacAskill will also want it to apply for culpable homicide, other serious sexual offences and other serious offences.

As in England it could also be extended to drugs crimes, although sources said a definitive list had yet to be finalised.

There has been resistance against an end to double jeopardy in much of the legal profession, many of whom have argued that a jury's decision should be final.

They argue that the principle of double jeopardy should stand to protect individuals from being persecuted by the state with repeated trials.

However, supporters of a change in the law have pointed out that criminals have the right to appeal many times when new evidence comes to light even if they have been found guilty by a jury.

While it is understood that prosecutors in Scotland would only have the right to challenge a decision once, supporters of a change in the law believe that this opportunity should exist if new evidence comes to light or there is evidence of corruption or interference in a case.

It seems likely that only the two Green MSPs will oppose the change of law in the Scottish Parliament with the main parties signed up to it providing safeguards are put in place.