The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Law lord to be quizzed over documents
Scotland’s most senior law officer, Lord Advocate James Wolffe QC, is to be quizzed on who is blocking the handover of crucial legal documents to the Salmond inquiry.
When Mr Wolffe gives evidence to MSPs in a few hours’ time, the longrunning controversy over the lack of documentation being made available to the inquiry will be raised again.
MSPs had imposed a deadline of Friday last week for the Scottish Government to hand over the legal advice it received before Alex Salmond won a high- profile civil case against the administration he used to lead.
The advice relates to the Scottish Government ’s decision to contest Mr Salmond’s legal challenge to its internal investigation into claims of sexual harassment made by two women.
The internal process was later ruled unlawful by the Court of Session, a decision that led to the Scottish Government shelling out more than £500,000 for Mr Salmond’s legal costs.
The MSPs believe the legal advice is key to understanding why the Scottish Government ’s internal anti-harassment process was successfully challenged.
A majority of MSPs have voted in favour of the advice being handed over to the parliament committee, but despite the vote establishing that the will of the Scottish Parliament is for the information to be disclosed, the Scottish Government has yet to give it to the inquiry.
As Friday ’s deadline approached, Deputy First Minister John Swinney wrote to the committee to tell MSPs that no decision had been taken on the issue yet. Ministers have argued that the information is subject to legal privilege and should remain private.
In his letter to the committee, Mr Swinney said that “even if ministers take the decision that the balance of public interest favours disclosure in a particular case, they must obtain the prior consent of law officers and that consent will be given only if there are “compelling reasons”.
A Scottish Government spokesman said :“The deputy first minister has clearly set out in his letter to the committee the detailed consideration that the government is giving to this issue and also the extensive steps that are being taken to secure the release of further documentation.”
Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser, who sits on the Salmond inquiry, said: “We expect the lord advocate to reveal who is blocking the release of the legal advice.”
Also giving evidence will be Scotland’s most senior civil servant, Leslie Evans, who appears in front of the committee in person for the third time.
One question Ms Evans, the permanent secretary, is likely to be asked will be about “paragraph 10”, the crucial rule at the heart of Mr Salmond’s successful legal challenge.
The spokesman added: “The permanent secretary commissioned an external review of the procedure in January 2019 to ensure we learn and apply learning to any future complaints.
“In the event of the procedure being required, we would be mindful of all areas of potential challenge, including the interpretation of paragraph 10, and would take further legal advice.”