The next continued petition for consideration is petition PE1712, on soul and conscience letters. The petition, which was lodged by Laura Hunter, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to review the use of soul and conscience letters in criminal proceedings and to produce guidance for the courts and general practitioner practices on the use of those letters, including guidance on alternatives to court appearance if an accused person is deemed unfit to attend in person.
Since the previous consideration of the petition, we have received a submission from the Scottish Government, which is summarised in the clerk’s note. The committee asked the Scottish Government whether it had any plans to update the guidance for the medical profession on the use of soul and conscience letters, and the Scottish Government responded that it was unaware of any current abuse of the process. The British Medical Association Scotland and the Law Society of Scotland also told the committee that in previous written submissions.
The Scottish Government advised us that the guidance
“does not come under the responsibility of the Scottish Government and so any suggestion that the guidance could usefully be updated should be directed to the relevant medical professional bodies such as the General Medical Council.”
I would be interested in members’ views on whether we can usefully do any more. Basically, it struck me that it is a matter of the way that the justice system operates. It is an issue for the Scottish Government that there is not a process by which people who should be going to the courts are finding a loophole to avoid appearance. That might not be happening, but it is clear that that is the concern that the petitioner has flagged up.
