Lord President
The first item of business this afternoon is an emergency question in the name of David Davidson.
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the First Minister will make a statement today on the implications and possible consequences of the illness of the Lord President, Lord Hamilton. (S2O-00012)
I thank the Presiding Officer and David Davidson for their assistance in making the arrangements to give the Parliament this information.
The Lord President has been ill for some time and remains under medical care, with no firm date for a return to work. I am sure that members of all parties will join me in wishing Lord Hamilton a full recovery as soon as possible. [Applause.]
During the Lord President's absence, Lord Gill, the Lord Justice Clerk, has carried many of the responsibilities of the Lord President. However, as the law stands, the Lord President alone may take certain actions or make certain decisions, and the absence of powers for the Lord Justice Clerk to act in his or her place adds unnecessarily to the difficulties in operating the superior courts. We therefore propose to bring forward a very short bill, which will provide that the Lord Justice Clerk may carry out any of the functions of the Lord President while the Lord President is incapacitated and unable to perform the functions of his or her office. In that bill, we will make provision for the next senior inner house judge to carry out the functions of the Lord Justice Clerk while the Lord Justice Clerk is, in turn, carrying out the functions of the Lord President. The bill will also cover periods when the offices of Lord President and Lord Justice Clerk are vacant.
We consulted recently on the case for the Lord Justice Clerk acquiring formal powers to discharge the functions of the Lord President when the office is vacant or the office holder is unable to discharge his or her responsibilities owing to temporary incapacity. The responses on that point were generally supportive.
The bill will confer on the court the ability to transfer on a temporary basis the responsibilities of the most senior judge to his or her senior colleague, when it is clear that the top judge is incapacitated. The process would be triggered if a majority of the inner house judges declared in writing that the Lord President was incapacitated. The process would end when a similar number of judges were satisfied that he or she was no longer incapacitated. The bill will require that the judges advise the First Minister that they have reached such a conclusion, as the First Minister has responsibility for recommending the appointment of all judges. Beyond that intimation, however, the decisions would lie with the judges themselves. I should make it clear that the new powers will not impinge on the First Minister's separate responsibilities under the Scotland Act 1998 to establish a tribunal to consider any question of fitness for office.
Clearly the current situation adds pressure to the courts at this time, so I will mention two other steps that are relevant. First, the Minister for Justice announced yesterday the appointment of 22 more part-time sheriffs, which takes the overall total to 80. Secondly, the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland has recommended to me the appointment of a number of candidates for the office of floating sheriff, which is a full-time appointment. I will consider the board's report shortly and expect to announce the appointment of up to six new sheriffs within a short time. Those additional appointments at sheriff court level should assist in securing the release of some senior sheriffs to serve as temporary High Court judges.
The Minister for Parliamentary Business will shortly put proposals for the scheduling of the bill to the Parliamentary Bureau. Our objective is that the bill should receive royal assent by the end of June.
I take this opportunity, on behalf of our Government, to reassure the Parliament and the wider public that we believe that an independent and effective judiciary is an essential element of Scottish life. The measures that I have outlined today will allow everyone who relies on our justice system to remain confident that it will continue to deliver justice swiftly, fairly and effectively.
I thank the First Minister for his informative statement, and I am sure that members support what he has suggested. He gave a timescale for achieving royal assent. Which of the justice committees—if either is involved—will scrutinise the bill? The Parliament must have an opportunity to scrutinise the bill in some form. Perhaps the Minister for Justice might care to meet the Justice 1 Committee's convener and me to discuss how we can help to facilitate action.
It is appropriate for the Parliamentary Bureau, which will meet next Tuesday, to consider timetabling for the bill. I hope that we will introduce the bill next week, which will allow the parliamentary authorities time to be certain about whether the proposals lie within the Parliament's competence, in relation to its powers, although we believe that they do. The bureau will have to consider how Parliament scrutinises the bill during its parliamentary stages. We hope that that will happen quickly—the bureau will decide how to expedite that business.
I would be happy for detailed discussions to take place between now and then with the Minister for Justice, the Lord Advocate and me—if necessary—and with representatives of all the parties in the Parliament and the conveners of the two justice committees. I would prefer to proceed with all-party agreement, so that the Parliament acts with certainty and with consensus, to ensure that people throughout Scotland can be confident that our courts are functioning properly.
I will take comments from Nicola Sturgeon and Annabel Goldie, to which I ask the First Minister to make a single response.
I thank the First Minister for his answer and his remarks about continuing dialogue between the political parties. On the Scottish National Party's behalf, I wish Lord Hamilton a full and speedy recovery and return to work. I have no doubt that questions of detail will arise during the passage of the bill, but I assure the First Minister of the SNP's full co-operation in taking the necessary and sensible legislative steps to fill a gap in our law as quickly as possible and in a way that protects the judiciary's independence.
I, too, thank the First Minister for the clarity of his statement, which is extremely helpful. On behalf of my colleagues, I extend best wishes to Lord Hamilton for what we hope is a speedy recovery. We also appreciate the work that Lord Hamilton's colleagues are undertaking to cope with what is clearly a difficult situation.
My party is willing to support the proposals that the First Minister outlined. An important influence on that attitude is the clearly indicated desire that the mechanism should be triggered by judicial rather than political impetus. That is an important recognition of the two distinct roles. I look forward to seeing the bill in detail, but I reassure the First Minister that, in principle, the Conservatives will be supportive.
As I said, to assist parliamentary scrutiny, it is a helpful coincidence that we consulted on such a proposal in the consultation paper "Strengthening Judicial Independence in a Modern Scotland". I would be happy to make available—before Parliament is required to scrutinise the bill and to inform representatives of the other parties—responses to the consultation on that point before the other responses are published.
I assure Parliament that, in advance of David Davidson's question and my statement today, we consulted the senior judiciary. I understand that the Lord Justice Clerk has consulted most judges and that they have, without question, indicated support for the proposals. That assists the process. I assure the Presiding Officer that the Minister for Parliamentary Business will bring timetabling proposals to the bureau next week.