Written Question · S1W-27809 · Session 1
Whether, following the Surjit Singh Chhokar, Chris Cawley and Gordon Gibson cases, a Court of Appeal panel of judges has been appointed to …
The question
To ask the Scottish Executive whether, following the Surjit Singh Chhokar, Chris Cawley and Gordon Gibson cases, a Court of Appeal panel of judges has been appointed to review the law on trials with multiple accused persons and, if so, what the legal basis is of this review; what its terms of reference are, and what legal status its conclusions will have.
The answer
On 15 May 2002, three judges of the Court of Criminal Appeal referred an appeal (McKinnon, McKay and Norwood v Her Majesty's Advocate) to a Bench of five judges with a view to clarifying an aspect of the law of concert, which applies to situations where a number of persons are accused of acting together to commit a crime. This is a normal part of judicial process to resolve an unclear area of law.The decision of the five judges would represent an authoritative statement of the law on the point, and would be binding on all courts of criminal jurisdiction in Scotland. No date has yet been set for the hearing before five judges.
In the Official Report
No contribution in the Official Report cites S1W-27809 by reference.