We move to item 4, which is consideration of petitions. The first petition is PE200 in the name of Andrew Watt. We await guidance that the Scottish Legal Aid Board will issue in the autumn, as the committee will note from the paper that the clerks have prepared. It would be sensible to carry on consideration of the petition at such time as that guidance is available. Are we agreed?
I notice that there is an alternative in the "Options" section of the clerks' paper. It is not really an alternative in that, without ending the consideration, we could write and tell the petitioner about the correspondence that we have had and at the same time continue our consideration.
We would normally keep the petitioner informed of actions.
The second petition is the long-running PE102 from James Ward, on which we continue to receive communications from Mr Ward. It is my opinion, following the previous reply of the Minister for Justice and his clear opinion on the jurisdiction of the Court of Session in the matter, that we cannot take the petition any further and that we should close consideration. However, I am open to other views.
We cannot do anything else. Rightly or wrongly—I have no view—the minister has said that the Executive is not considering the law on the matter and will not change it. I can think of no way in which the committee could take the petition further.
Do members agree to close consideration of the petition?