The members of the Committee appear to have worked hard in carrying out their task. But without advice for their investigation, in fact not even a legal expert to help them, they have no chance of getting to the bottom of this sinister case. The revolving door system is simply pathetic to many witnesses. The witness testifies; The committee then discovers that this is absurd and calls this witness back – in some cases more than once. Are we now facing the future of a legal profession that is partly made up of “robo-lawyers” who can stay awake in court all night and take on hundreds of precedents from Rettie? So you`re ready to suffocate them again at a banned judge? I doubt it. Advocacy in court involves much more than memory. Producing only one case at a time will surely lead to enrage and failure for everyone but the most patient judge. As we already know, relevance is not a strength of computers, and I can imagine that this last chip will be just as bad at assessing this important legal factor as any of its electronic predecessors. “I could assert my legal right by going to court, but I`d rather call it one day and get out of it of course.” The Prime Minister`s initial assurance that her government would do everything in its power to support the inquiry turned out to be an empty promise. The all too obvious truth is that their government has made Herculean efforts to thwart them at every turn. For us lawyers, of course, the most absurd aspect was the assertion by Mrs Sturgeon and her deputy John Swinney that it was impossible for them to give the committee access to the legal advice given to the Scottish Government in relation to the Salmond cases. It is confidential and therefore cannot be disclosed, they protest. What complete nonsense.
You, the Scottish Government, are the client and can waive the privilege of providing legal advice whenever you wish. When they make such an absurd explanation of secrecy, they must consider that the Scottish public is exceptionally dense and will believe it. This step of keeping criminal productions secret has nothing to do with identifying the plaintiffs in the Salmond trial. It`s easy to manage. That is something I can claim to know. I have advised the BBC and many newspapers for years, and simple editorial techniques will overcome this problem. Therefore, this cannot be used as an excuse to keep these documents out of committee. She claims that the fact that the advice was legal advice as a basis for refusing to disclose details other than costs.
If we look at the very high number of hours that individual witnesses believe to be the time spent on preparation, it becomes almost impossible to conclude that this legal advice was of the very limited type that is permitted. Bonnington said he would not take legal action, but would likely leave the university. Another curious part of this process is the legal approach of James Wolffe, the Lord Advocate. He appeared before the commission and claimed that anyone who produced the documentary productions (originals or copies) of Mr. Salmond`s criminal trial would constitute a crime and would be prosecuted for it. Mr. Salmond says he needs some of these documents to be able to testify. That is why it was presented to the committee only slowly.
Now, I wouldn`t even pretend that I`m close to Mr. Wolffe`s scholarship. But I have never heard of such a rule of law. The criminal proceedings have been completed and cannot be resumed. What crime can be committed through a legitimate parliamentary inquiry into these documents, which must be relevant in all respects, and not just those of Mr Salmond, to the work of the committee? Is there anything we can do to help these people who have done nothing wrong after all? The situation will be particularly extreme for those who are “complainers” – the alleged victims of the crime. Alistair Bonnington is a former Honorary Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Glasgow. Alistair Bonnington, 68, a former honorary professor of criminal law at the University of Glasgow, published his views in an online forum at the Open University (OU) during a discussion about 18th-century writer Voltaire, an advocate of free speech. But the greatest evil would undoubtedly be to allow something that actually amounts to framing witnesses. That would be an attack on the fabric of the justice system. The document accompanying the response of faith with the data provided shows that this preparation took place between the meetings of the committee. An example would be to go through the questions that are likely to be asked to find the most convincing answers that the witness could give. There has never been a clearer case for the benefit of law and lawyers than the so-called Salmond inquiry in the Scottish Parliament.
The Scottish Government`s Committee on Harassment Complaints, to give it its correct title, has so far failed to uncover the truth about the machinations within the Scottish Government simply because it is unable to do so. Inevitably, there is a strong suspicion that this task was entrusted to this committee precisely because it did not have sufficient expertise or powers to conduct adequate investigations. “Universities don`t seem to understand that freedom of expression means what it says. For example, the head of the public service was called as a witness no less than four times because her answers raised questions that required further investigation. Read instantly in your browser with Kindle Cloud Reader. However, he later discovered that his comments had been removed by the university`s moderators. “Universities should be places where there can be free debate between people who have different points of view. Unlike experienced witnesses like police officers, they will expect with some fear to enter an unknown and perhaps hostile arena. Now he has attacked the establishment for “infantile and anti-intellectual behavior.” It`s also a little hard to believe that avocados will line up to open their heads to insert this neurotechnological miracle. Finally, it could have a “Stepford Wife” aspect that makes the postoperative lawyer vulnerable to all sorts of unexpected checks. Even those of us who still don`t believe that the world is now ruled by giant blue lizards controlling our minds will be very concerned about the unexpected effects of the brain chip.
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