Calls for judicial reform are driven by legal bigwigs' abuse of the system

I refer to the letter from Elish Angiolini, the Lord Advocate (1 August) about the independence of the Lord Advocate, and your report about the proposed review of the legal system in Scotland (31 July).

There would be no need for a review if people like the Lord Advocate and other members of the legal system adhered to the rules and did not abuse the system.

It is well known that you should never mislead the court or the other party to a case, yet this abuse goes on all the time and there are those on the bench who allow it.

Other members of the legal profession abuse the system for their own ends, with the protection of the Crown Office and others. The court of session is out of control because of such conduct, yet nothing is being done.

The late Lord Emslie, who was Lord President and Lord Justice General, would never have allowed such conduct to go on and I am sure if any member of the legal profession had tried to mislead him or lie they would have been dealt with by him.

With regard to the Lord Advocate being independent, can the Lord Advocate say why she allows those in the legal profession and police to rule her as they do. She ignores the victims of crime to protect her own kind.

The only way justice will be seen to be done is by cleaning up the system, and the Crown Office should be the first place to be sorted out.

DEREK COONEY, Petershill Drive, Glasgow

There is no doubt that the SNP justice secretary, Kenny MacAskill, has brought enthusiasm for much-needed reform in Scotland's law to his new role. It is to be hoped that he will continue this, by ending the degrading practice of women prisoners in Scotland being handcuffed while in labour.

This is a revolting and needless prison regulation as a heavily pregnant woman in the often agonising throes of giving birth is hardly likely to escape through a ward window or disappear down a hospital corridor.

It may be a clich to say that a country is judged by how well or badly it treats its criminals, but, like many clichs, it is true. It is also a social advance that would cost the Scottish taxpayer nothing more than the ink used by a stroke of a pen. Mr MacAskill we are waiting.

SOPHIE L ANDERSON, Marchmont Road, Edinburgh