Justice 2 Committee, 26 Sep 2001
Meeting date: Wednesday, September 26, 2001
Official Report
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Petition
Item 5 is on petition PE306, which we have dealt with before. The note from the clerk—paper J2/01/24/2—sets out the committee's previous consideration of the petition and summarises the response that we received from the Minister for Justice. Members have now received all the information that we requested.
The subject of the petition is whether the members of the judiciary should be required to declare membership of the freemasons. We also have unsolicited correspondence from the Grand Lodge of Scotland of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons. The note suggests three options on where we should go with the petition. We could do nothing, we could take up the suggestion made in Jim Wallace's letter of raising the matter with him at a later date, or we could take any further action that the committee wishes to take.
I invite members to make comments or suggestions.
I suggest that we take up the second option.
For the record, the second option would be to note the minister's response and to make a commitment to revisit the possibility of declarations of interest by the judiciary as part of consideration of the new judicial appointments procedures that are due to be introduced. The committee has discussed the possibility of examining the issue of judicial appointments. We must decide whether we want to do that.
I am happy to take the second option because I think that we should pursue the issue. I am not suggesting that members of the judiciary are not impartial when they administer justice, but I believe that the public perception that there is a problem in relation to the freemasons must be dealt with. However, if a declaration that one is not involved with the freemasons is required, why stop with judges? Members of a jury or anybody else who is involved in the administration of justice might also have to make a declaration. Any decision that was made would have to be consistent.
Are we agreed to follow the second option?
Members indicated agreement.