|
Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission
The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government, established by the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 (as amended by the Crime and Punishment (Scotland) Act 1997). The commission has the statutory power to refer cases dealt with on indictment (''ie'' solemn procedure cases) to the High Court of Justiciary. This was extended to include summary cases by Statutory Instrument on 31 March 1999, immediately before the Commission took up its role in April 1999. Though funded by the Scottish Government, investigations are carried out independently of Scottish Ministers, with the Commission being accountable to the Scottish Parliament on matters of finance and administration. Governance and administration The commission is headed by chief executive, Gerard Sinclair, and staffed by a director of corporate services, two senior legal officers, six legal officers and three administrative support staff. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, the North Sea to the northeast and east, and the Irish Sea to the south. It also contains more than 790 islands, principally in the archipelagos of the Hebrides and the Northern Isles. Most of the population, including the capital Edinburgh, is concentrated in the Central Belt—the plain between the Scottish Highlands and the Southern Uplands—in the Scottish Lowlands. Scotland is divided into 32 administrative subdivisions or local authorities, known as council areas. Glasgow City is the largest council area in terms of population, with Highland being the largest in terms of area. Limited self-governing power, covering matters such as education, social services and roads and transportation, is devolved from the Scott ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gerard Sinclair
Gerard Sinclair is Chief Executive of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC). Background Gerard Sinclair is qualified in both Scots law and English law. As a solicitor in private practice for 19 years, and a senior partner with a Glasgow law firm, his legal experience covered all areas of criminal, civil and commercial litigation. He has served as a member of the Council of the Law Society of Scotland and is also involved on the Law Society Criminal Law Committee. In May 2006 he was appointed a part-time sheriff. SCCRC Gerard Sinclair became the SCCRC's Chief Executive on 30 June 2003. He is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Commission, and for ensuring the efficient and expeditious progressing of the Commission's cases. The SCCRC conducted a review of the conviction of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial and in 2007 referred the case back to the High Court of Justiciary The High Court of Justiciary is the supreme cri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth. Edinburgh is Scotland's List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, second-most populous city, after Glasgow, and the List of cities in the United Kingdom, seventh-most populous city in the United Kingdom. Recognised as the capital of Scotland since at least the 15th century, Edinburgh is the seat of the Scottish Government, the Scottish Parliament and the Courts of Scotland, highest courts in Scotland. The city's Holyrood Palace, Palace of Holyroodhouse is the official residence of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British monarchy in Scotland. The city has long been a centre of education, particularly in the fields of medicine, Scots law, Scottish law, literature, philosophy, the sc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pan Am Flight 103 Bombing Trial
The Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial began on 3 May 2000, 11 years, 4 months and 13 days after the destruction of Pan Am Flight 103 on 21 December 1988. The 36-week bench trial took place at a specially convened Scottish Court in the Netherlands set up under Scots law and held at a disused United States Air Force base called Camp Zeist near Utrecht. Trial set-up Venue Upon the indictment of the two Libyan suspects in November 1991, the Libyan government was called upon to extradite them for trial in either the United Kingdom or the United States. Since no bilateral extradition treaty was in force between any of the three countries, Libya refused to hand the men over but did offer to detain them for trial in Libya, as long as all the incriminating evidence was provided. The offer was unacceptable to the US and UK, and there was an impasse for the next three years. In November 1994, President Nelson Mandela offered South Africa as a neutral venue for the trial but this was rejected ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Taylor QC
William Taylor, QC has been a Scottish advocate since 1971 and a QC since 1986. He has also been a barrister in England and Wales since 1990 and a Queen's Counsel there since 1998. He has specialised in criminal defence work since the 1980s. Personal life William Taylor was born in Aberdeenshire, and attended Robert Gordon's College public school (formerly for boys) after winning a scholarship based on academic achievement. Taylor gained his first degree from the University of Aberdeen, an Honours in Philosophy where he followed on to complete studies in Criminal Law. Taylor is historically notable as being the first Queen's Counsellor to hold the 'QC' position in both Scotland and England. Lockerbie trial William Taylor QC acted as Senior Counsel for Abdelbaset al-Megrahi during the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial from May 2000 to January 2001, and during the subsequent appeal in January to March 2002. SCCRC Taylor was reappointed Commissioner at the Scottish Criminal Cases ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Justice Of The Peace Court
A justice of the peace court is the least authoritative type of criminal court in Scotland. The court operates under summary procedure and deals primarily with less serious criminal offences. History The commission of the peace was originally instituted in Scotland in the 16th century. Initially, justices were given the task of administering the county within which they resided until this work passed to the county councils with their establishment in 1888. Justices of the peace were then left with jurisdiction in the licensing board and minor criminal cases. District courts were introduced in 1975 as a replacement for burgh police courts and sat in each local authority area under summary procedure only. The Criminal Proceedings etc. (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2007 enabled the Scottish Ministers to replace district courts by "justice of the peace courts". The justice of the peace courts are managed by the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service. Responsibility for the courts w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sentence (law)
In law, a sentence is the punishment for a crime ordered by a trial court after conviction in a criminal procedure, normally at the conclusion of a trial. A sentence may consist of imprisonment, a fine, or other sanctions. Sentences for multiple crimes may be a concurrent sentence, where sentences of imprisonment are all served together at the same time, or a consecutive sentence, in which the period of imprisonment is the sum of all sentences served one after the other. Additional sentences include intermediate, which allows an inmate to be free for about 8 hours a day for work purposes; determinate, which is fixed on a number of days, months, or years; and indeterminate or bifurcated, which mandates the minimum period be served in an institutional setting such as a prison followed by street time period of parole, supervised release or probation until the total sentence is completed. If a sentence is reduced to a less harsh punishment, then the sentence is said to have been mi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conviction (law)
In law, a conviction is the verdict reached by a court of law finding a defendant guilty of a crime. The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal (that is, "not guilty"). In Scotland, there can also be a verdict of "not proven", which is considered an acquittal. Sometimes, despite a defendant being found guilty, the court may order that the defendant not be convicted. This is known as a discharge and is used in countries such as England, Wales, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The criminal justice system is not perfect and there are instances in which guilty defendants are acquitted and innocent people are convicted. Appeal mechanisms and post conviction relief procedures may help to address this issue to some extent. An error leading to the conviction of an innocent person is known as a miscarriage of justice. After a defendant is convicted, the court determines the appropriate sentence as a punishment. In addition to the sentence, a conviction can also have other con ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miscarriage Of Justice
A miscarriage of justice occurs when a grossly unfair outcome occurs in a criminal procedure, criminal or civil procedure, civil proceeding, such as the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime they actual innocence, did not commit. Miscarriages are also known as wrongful convictions. Innocent people have sometimes ended up in prison for years before their conviction has eventually been overturned. They may be exonerated if new evidence comes to light or it is determined that the police or prosecutor committed some kind of misconduct at the original trial. In some jurisdictions this leads to the payment of compensation. Academic studies have found that the main factors contributing to miscarriages of justice are: eyewitness identification, eyewitness misidentification; faulty forensic analysis; false confessions by vulnerable suspects; perjury and lies stated by witnesses; police misconduct, misconduct by police, prosecutorial misconduct, prosecutors or judicial miscondu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scottish Criminal Justice System
Scots criminal law relies far more heavily on common law than in England and Wales. Scottish criminal law includes offences against the person of murder, culpable homicide, rape and assault, offences against property such as theft and malicious mischief, and public order offences including mobbing and breach of the peace. Scottish criminal law can also be found in the statutes of the UK Parliament with some areas of criminal law, such as misuse of drugs and traffic offences appearing identical on both sides of the Border. Scottish criminal law can also be found in the statute books of the Scottish Parliament such as the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 (2009 asp 9) and Prostitution (Public Places) (Scotland) Act 2007 (2007 asp 11) which only apply to Scotland. In fact, the Scots requirement of corroboration in criminal matters changes the practical prosecution of crimes derived from the same enactment. Corroboration is not required in England or in civil cases in Scotland. Sc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Faculty Of Advocates
The Faculty of Advocates is an independent body of lawyers who have been admitted to practise as advocates before the courts of Scotland, especially the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary. The Faculty of Advocates is a constituent part of the College of Justice and is based in Edinburgh. Advocates are privileged to plead in any cause before any of the courts of Scotland, including the sheriff courts and district courts, where counsel are not excluded by statute. History The Faculty has existed since 1532 when the College of Justice was set up by Act of the Parliament of Scotland, but its origins are believed to predate that event. No curriculum of study, residence or professional training was, until 1856, required on entering this profession, but the faculty always had the power of rejecting any candidate for admission. Subsequently candidates underwent two private examinations; one in general scholarship that could be substituted by evidence of an equivalen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
