Worthy News: MSPs debate emergency Cadder bill

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill is bringing the bill to parliament

MSPs will be asked to pass emergency legislation after a major legal ruling that police can no longer question suspects without access to a lawyer.

The UK Supreme Court upheld an appeal by teenager Peter Cadder, whose assault conviction was based on evidence gained before he spoke to his solicitor.

Judges ruled this violated human rights and the SNP is bringing measures to Holyrood to resolve the issue.

Thousands of cases could be open to appeal under the ruling.

But the Lib Dems have raised concerns about the government's approach.

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill wants to raise the period of detention without charge from six to 12 hours, with the possibility to increase that to 24 hours.

This would allow lawyers enough time to be present at interviews, but Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesman Robert Brown is aiming to amend the emergency legislation to prevent the period being extended to a day.

Mr Brown also expressed concern that the Scottish Parliament's justice committee would not be given proper time to examine the proposals.

The Criminal Procedure (Detention, Legal Assistance and Appeals) (Scotland) Bill will bring in several other measures, including putting into statute, the right of access to a lawyer for anyone who is detained.

And there will also be a special duty placed on the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, which investigates possible miscarriages of justice, so it considers the status of any cases on the basis of whether they have been "finally determined".

The three scrutiny stages which every Scottish Parliament bill needs to pass through will be cut from several months to one afternoon, as MSPs vote on the legislation on Wednesday evening.

Mr Brown said his party had "reluctantly agreed" to the Scottish government's course of action, but added: "We will be pursuing amendments to tighten up the procedures.

He said: "Whilst the law needs to be changed to accommodate the judgement, I have concerns about the proposal to extend the period of detention from six hours to 24 hours effectively at the discretion of the police."

Emergency bill timetable

The Criminal Procedure (Detention, Legal Assistance and Appeals) (Scotland) Bill will be considered and voted on by MSPs in one afternoon.

At Holyrood, MSPs will debate a motion to treat the legislation as an emergency bill between 1405 and 1410.

The first stage debate of the bill on its "general principles" will then begin and last for just over an hour.

The second stage of the bill - which would normally take the form of several weeks of evidence by a Holyrood committee, which would also consider amendments - will be held between 1620 and 1710.

The third and final stage debate of the bill, which can consider final amendments to the legislation, will then run to 1800, when MSPs will vote on it.

If passed, Royal Assent is expected to be given to the bill as soon as Friday, at which point it will become law.

The judges said up to 76,000 cases were ongoing or awaiting trial, although not all would be affected by their decision.

However, the Crown Office said this was the total number of ongoing cases in the Scottish criminal courts and estimated the number of possible appeals at closer to 3,500.

Among them could be Luke Mitchell, who was just 14 when he was questioned without a lawyer by police investigating the murder of his girlfriend, Jodi Jones.

That aspect of his case is already being investigated by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission.

The Supreme Court said it would not be appropriate to allow "closed cases" to be reopened.

The decision will, however, affect cases which have not yet gone to trial, where the trial is still in progress or where an appeal has been brought in time and is not yet concluded.

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said the ruling had created a situation "to which we must respond".

The Lord Advocate Elish Angiolini said the ruling had "significant implications" for Scots law.

This article is from the BBC News website. � British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.