Parliament Workbench
Data: Official Report to 12 Nov 2026

Official Report · Committee

Current Petitions

Criminal Memoirs (Publication for Profit) (PE504)

Wednesday 4 February 2004 Public Petitions Committee Petitions 3 contributions · 2 speakers

Speakers

Choose an MSP to read only their contributions

The record

3 contributions
Michael McMahon Lab The Convener · Hamilton North and Bellshill
link

The next petition is PE504 on criminal memoirs. The petitioners call on the Scottish Parliament to take the necessary steps to stop convicted murderers or members of their families from profiting from crimes by selling accounts of them for publication. At its meeting on 3 September 2003, the committee agreed to defer consideration of the petition pending the outcome of the Press Complaints Commission's deliberations on the matter. The commission has now responded to the committee and has said that the complaint raised by the petitioners"did not raise a breach of the Code of Conduct."The Executive has indicated that a UK-wide approach to this issue would be the most effective and that it would not make sense to take action in Scotland until other work has been completed. However, the petitioners have provided further evidence that consideration of the matter at UK level is at a very early stage and have requested that the committee asks the Scottish Executive to lead the way on the matter.

Helen Eadie Lab Dunfermline East
link

I suggest that we write to the minister to invite comment on the petitioners' response.

Michael McMahon Lab The Convener · Hamilton North and Bellshill
link

Is that agreed?Members indicated agreement.

In this meeting

Everything on 4 Feb 2004 →
  1. Scottish Parliament Public Petitions Committee Wednesday 4 February 2004 (Morning) Petitions · 1
  2. Item in Private Procedure · 1
  3. New Petitions Petitions · 1
  4. New Petitions Petitions · 24
  5. New Petitions Petitions · 37
  6. New Petitions Petitions · 29
  7. New Petitions Petitions · 12
  8. New Petitions Petitions · 10
  9. Current Petitions Petitions · 3
  10. Current Petitions Petitions · 3
  11. Current Petitions Petitions · 7
  12. Current Petitions Petitions · 12
  13. Current Petitions Petitions · 4
  14. Current Petitions Petitions · 9

The type of each item (debate, statement, questions, members’ business and so on) and the times shown are worked out by this site from headings, the chair’s opening words and the Official Report’s running timestamps. They are not the Parliament’s own classification. Text: the Scottish Parliament Official Report.