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BY ELAINE SAMUEL University of Edinburgh AND IAN CLARK Scottish Government Social Research
2.9 OTHER ISSUES
Recommendation 24(a) Schedule 6 of the Scotland Act 1998 should be amended to make it clear that acts, or failures to act, by the Lord Advocate as prosecutor, and anyone acting on his authority or on his behalf as prosecutor, are excluded from the definition of a devolution issue. (Para. 17.14)
Though the consultation did not cover Recommendation 24, because it deals with a matter reserved to Westminster and not within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament, some respondents took the opportunity to comment on it. The proposal was given strong support by Sheriffs Principal and the Judges’ Council, which observed that devolution issues had been raised by a small number of solicitors, had been of little substance and had occupied a substantial quantity of time in the High Court. The recommendation was not supported by the Faculty of Advocates CBA, the Law Society of Scotland CLC or the Dunbartonshire Faculty of Solicitors, which sought clarification for the reasoning behind it. The Law Society maintained that the Lord Advocate should be as accountable as other members of the Scottish Government. However, it did acknowledge the delays arising from appeals around ‘devolution issues’. It therefore suggested amending the Act of Adjournal (Devolution Issues) Rules 1999 to provide an alternative procedure for raising these issues.