Justice 2 Committee, 27 Feb 2002

Meeting date: Wednesday, February 27, 2002

Official Report 147KB pdf

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Adviser

Item 4 is consideration of the appointment of an adviser. Considering the various bills that we have dealt with, the committee felt that it should have an adviser on criminal procedure. The adviser's role will be to guide us on matters of court practice and issues that we might want to check that we understand, especially when we are dealing with technical legislation. We suggested that, in future, in dealing with criminal procedure bills, we should appoint someone to assist us.

When it first allocated the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill to us, the Parliamentary Bureau suggested that the Justice 2 Committee would also consider the proposed criminal justice bill. No final decision has been made on that, and the Justice 1 Committee has expressed an interest in considering that bill. The bureau will have to decide. Only in the event of the bureau's allocating that bill to the Justice 2 Committee would we appoint the adviser. If it allocates the bill to the Justice 1 Committee, we will not appoint an adviser at this time. Does the committee agree that, in the event of the bureau's allocating the bill to this committee, we should try to find someone to appoint as adviser?

Members indicated agreement.

Before we move into private session, I remind members for the record that the next meeting of the committee will be on Wednesday 6 March. We will hear evidence in relation to our inquiry into the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. We will hear from Sir Anthony Campbell on the Chhokar reports and from Crown Office officials and ministers.

When is the bureau expected to reach a decision about the lead committee on the proposed criminal justice bill?

The bill has not yet been introduced. We expect that it will be introduced in the week before Easter and that a decision on the lead committee will be made in that week.

If this committee were to be made the lead committee, when would we make a decision about the identity of the adviser?

We would aim to have the procedures in place so that you could decide straight away. The adviser would then be there to advise you as close to the beginning of the process as possible.

In the past, we have found that such appointments require people to make a big commitment. There are usually two or three names to consider and we must ensure that we have enough time to reach the right decision if an adviser is necessary.

The committee earlier agreed to meet in private to discuss its report on the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill. We therefore move into private session.

Meeting suspended until 11:27 and thereafter continued in private until 13:07.