Question reference: S5W-22289
- Asked by: Angela Constance, MSP for Almond Valley, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 21 March 2019
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Current status: Answered by James Wolffe QC on 4 April 2019
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-21304 by Humza Yousaf on 26 February 2019, how many times the Lord Advocate has used his discretionary powers each year under the Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths etc. (Scotland) Act 2016, also broken down by how many times this was in relation to a death abroad in suspicious circumstances.
Answer
The Inquiries into Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths etc. (Scotland) Act 2016 (the 2016 Act), (the 2016 Act), was brought into force by parliament on 15 June 2017.
In terms of section 4 of the 2016 Act, the Lord Advocate may instruct a Fatal Accident Inquiry (an FAI) into a person’s death if it is considered that the death was sudden, suspicious or unexplained, or occurred in circumstances giving rise to serious public concern, and that it is in the public interest for an inquiry to be held into the circumstances of the death. Assessing whether it is in the public interest to hold a discretionary fatal accident inquiry in relation to a death will depend very much on the particular facts and circumstances surrounding the death.
Since the 15 June 2017, the Procurator Fiscal has given notice to the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service (SCTS) on two occasions that a fatal accident inquiry is to be held in terms of section 4 of the 2016 Act. In both of the inquiries referred to the death occurred in Scotland.