Letter: Bring in lawyers

The First Minister has hastily appointed an expert group to look at the Supreme Court's jurisdiction (your report, 6 June). One can only wish them well as they tiptoe their way through this minefield.

They are a long-retired judge, a long-retired professor and judge, a sheriff and an academic. All distinguished senior men - yet no practitioner? Who, exactly, takes criminal cases to appeal?

Who, exactly, advises clients on their rights? Who, exactly, is best equipped to say whether the buck should stop in Edinburgh, or whether the Supreme Court's jurisdiction is necessary in today's Scotland? Well, lawyers, of course; the practitioners who actually do the work. It's odd that they should be ignored. I can't imagine why that should be.

John Campbell QC

Advocates Library

Edinburgh