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Fatal Accident Inquiries (PE324)
The next item is petition PE324 from Kay Reid on fatal accident inquiries. Have we all read the report from the clerk? Is there a view on the matter?
The petition has been live for some time and the issues that it raises fall within the remit of our inquiry into the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. We should consider those issues in the light of that inquiry. The petitioner has specific concerns but shares some general concerns. The committee's interest lies with those general concerns and considering them as part of our inquiry is perhaps the best way of dealing with the petition.
I concur with that.
I accept the opinion of the Scottish Law Commission that it might be inappropriate for every death in medical circumstances to be investigated. However, there is concern that it is left to the procurator fiscal to decide whether there should be an inquiry. In this case, the family feels that it has no way to address that decision, apart from through a judicial review. Obviously there are constraints on applying for such a review. We should consider the matter within our inquiry into the Procurator Fiscal Service, in which we can consider the determining factors and see whether there is any room for amendment. At this stage we would not want to do anything more than that.
That point is well made.
Like Mary Mulligan, I want to focus on ensuring that the family has an accessible mechanism through which to put its view that it wants a fatal accident inquiry if the fiscal has decided otherwise.
Having heard the various points, it seems clear that the committee wants to note the terms of the Lord Advocate's letter of 24 October and to consider those matters at the report stage of the inquiry into the operation of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.
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