Official Report 517KB pdf
Our next petition is PE1458, lodged in December 2012 by Peter Cherbi, which calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to legislate to require all members of the judiciary in Scotland to submit their interests and information on any hospitality received to a publicly available register of interests.
This is a continued petition that was previously referred to the session 6 Criminal Justice Committee and to previous incarnations of that committee. The session 6 Criminal Justice Committee most recently considered the petition on 26 January 2022. At that meeting, it agreed to write to the Scottish Government and to keep the petition open. The Scottish Government’s programme for government for that year included a commitment to begin work on establishing a register of interests for the judiciary. The committee did not carry out any further work in relation to the petition in session 6.
In his submission to the committee, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice states that he has carefully considered the matter, including the views of the Lord President and the existing framework for judicial accountability, and does not intend to make any changes, because he is content that sufficient safeguards are in place.
Do members have any comments or suggestions for action?
I wonder whether the committee would consider closing the petition under rule 15.7 of standing orders, on the basis that the Cabinet Secretary for Justice’s most recent update states that he has carefully considered the matter, including the views of the Lord President and the existing framework for judicial accountability, and does not intend to make any changes, because he is content that sufficient safeguards are in place.
As there is no dissent, are members content to close the petition, given the Government’s views?
Members indicated agreement.