Call to bypass Supreme Court and deal direct with Europe

THE Scottish Government is calling for the power to deal directly with Strasbourg over human rights rulings as the ongoing row over the role of the UK Supreme Court continues.

Scottish ministers are angry over a ruling by the court on Wednesday last week that Nat Fraser's conviction for murdering his estranged wife Arlene is unsafe.

The Scottish Cabinet will discuss how to "remedy" the situation later today.

The Supreme Court also sparked controversy in Scotland for a ruling, known as the Cadder judgment, on the rights of suspects to legal representation.

The ruling on 26 October last year - which overturned a decision by seven senior Scottish judges - found that allowing suspects to be held and questioned for six hours without access to a lawyer breached the European Convention on Human Rights.

Justice secretary Kenny Mac-Askill said: "We're in a situation not anticipated when the Scotland Act was developed.

"It was meant to be a situation that when the Supreme Court was invoked that criminal law would remain in the jurisdiction of the High Court of Justiciary in Scotland.

"I don't think anybody ever imagined that we would have the routine challenges on human rights cases going directly to the Supreme Court."

Mr MacAskill added: "We want Scotland to be able to deal directly with Strasbourg. At the present moment we cannot do that.

"What we want is to be in the same situation as other countries. We want to be a normal European country.

"This matter applies in Germany, it applies in Ireland, applies in France and Austria. They get to go directly to Strasbourg. We don't have that right."

He said most judges at the Supreme Court did not have any knowledge of Scots law.

For Scottish criminal cases, the court can be used only when the case relates to "devolution matters", a term covering the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament in dealing with human rights issues.

Judges at the court ruled that Fraser did not receive a fair trial and ordered that his 2003 conviction for murdering his wife, Arlene, be quashed.

The decision prompted First Minister Alex Salmond to angrily complain that the verdict was tantamount to English courts "second-guessing" Scotland's independent judiciary.

The SNP Cabinet will today discuss lobbying the coalition government, including the possibility of amending the Scotland Bill, currently being considered at Westminster, to limit the Supreme Court's jurisdiction.

The issue could also be considered by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg's new commission on a British Bill of Human Rights, which is to examine the court's role. But human rights lawyer John Scott said Mr Salmond was wrong to be concerned at the actions of the court.

Mr Scott said: "I think there's a sense of perspective being lost. There's only a very tiny number of cases ever go to the Supreme Court. It doesn't have jurisdiction over the vast majority of criminal cases, it's only in relation to human rights points."