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Scottish Office

Answer

Ms Roseanna Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will estimate the number of cases affected by the decision in Mackay v. PF (Linlithgow) which have not yet been determined in (a) the district courts and (b) the sheriff courts; what percentage involve (i) statutory offences and (ii) common law offences; and in respect of those involving statutory offences, in how many of them is the Crown time-barred from raising fresh complaints. [37234] Mr. McLeish: [holding answer 1 April 1998]: No cases are directly affected by the decision in Mackay v. PF (Linlithgow) but the Crown Office estimate that up to 1,000 current cases may be affected by the court's subsequent decision in the case of PF (Glasgow) v. Milligan, unreported. It is not possible however to establish precise figures by reference to court or offence, without disproportionate costs. In some cases affected it may be possible for the Crown to bring fresh proceedings. The extent to which the Crown will do so may depend on any time-bar which applies to the individual charges. For the reason given, no figures are available for the number of cases in which the Crown would be time-barred from raising fresh complaints.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

309 c614W; 37234

Session

1997-98

Subjects

Criminal proceedings Courts Judgements Scotland Scottish courts Crown Office for Scotland Linlithgow

Contains statistics

Yes