Scottish Government tells Salmond inquiry it will not hand over evidence
The Scottish Government has told the inquiry into its handling of harassment complaints against Alex Salmond that it will not hand over key legal evidence to MSPS, it has emerged.
The refusal came to light when fresh evidence received from the government was published by the committee today.
In a response to a request for evidence from the cross-party committee in charge of the complaints inquiry in Holyrood,thescottishgovernment said it had chosen to invoke its legal privilege over communications between civil servants and other documents relating to the successful judicial review action brought against it by Alex Salmond.
The case, which left the government with a legal bill of more than £500,000, came after Mr Salmond challenged the legitimacy of an internal investigation into sexual misconduct claims made against him in 2018.
Ministers were forced to admit the investigation had been “tainted by apparent bias” after the case was settled.
In a letter sent to the committee the government said it would withhold “all communications” about the judicial review case.
The Scottish Government said: “The Scottish Government asserts its privilege over all communications it holds about or in relation to legal advice to the Scottish Government and litigation involving the Scottish Government.
“That is not to say that the Scottish Government will not give a full account of its legal position at various points, just that, in accordance with usual practice, it will not disclose the internal processes of taking and receiving advice or the scope and nature of any requests for legal advice or any legal advice provided.
“In addition, documents which form part of the court process in relation to the judicial review are the property of the Court and cannot be disclosed by the Scottish Government, unless they are already in the public domain.”
The committee had asked for a significant amount of evidence for the inquiry.