Current Petitions

We are delaying consideration of the other petition under item 2 until we have the petitioners in front of us, so we move to item 3, which is consideration of current petitions, many of which we have dealt with at previous meetings. I do not know whether this is a commendation for PE504, but it says in the papers that it is the oldest petition in the system. It has been in the system for so long—more than seven years—that perhaps it is getting a telegram from the Queen. PE504 is from Mr and Mrs Watson, who call on the Scottish Parliament to take the necessary steps to prevent convicted murderers in Scotland from profiting from their crimes by selling accounts of their crimes for publication.The petition has been before us a number of times, but the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and the Home Office have been discussing practical issues, and those discussions—tortuous as they may seem to us—are on-going. Given that information and the need for continued dialogue, I am open to suggestions about how we should deal with the petition.

Are there any other suggestions?

The issue is serious. We are talking about families who have suffered the indignity of seeing the individuals who have carried out those acts publishing their stories in newspapers and so on. We need to pursue the issue, even if that means delaying the petition for six months in order to get the information that is required. Hopefully, clarity from the Home Office will assist the cabinet secretary in legislating here.

I am happy to do that. I thank members for their patience on the petition. I apologise to the petitioners that it has taken so long for some reasonable progress to be made.