The Scottish court in the Netherlands was a special sitting of the
High Court of Justiciary
The High Court of Justiciary is the supreme criminal court in Scotland. The High Court is both a trial court and a court of appeal. As a trial court, the High Court sits on circuit at Parliament House or in the adjacent former Sheriff Cou ...
set up under
Scots law in a former
United States Air Force base, Camp Zeist in
Utrecht, in the
Netherlands, for the trial of two
Libyans charged with 270 counts of
murder in connection with the bombing of
Pan Am Flight 103 over
Lockerbie, Scotland, on 21 December 1988.
A school on the former base was converted into a judicial court for the trial.
Neutral country
The court was established in a neutral country as part of a deal between Colonel
Muammar Gaddafi of Libya and the
British government
ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd
, image = HM Government logo.svg
, image_size = 220px
, image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg
, image_size2 = 180px
, caption = Royal Arms
, date_es ...
, before Gaddafi would allow the
extradition
Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdi ...
of the two accused.
Special jurisdiction on territory
Under a bilateral
treaty
A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal pers ...
between the United Kingdom and the
Kingdom of the Netherlands, the premises of the court were, for the duration of the
trial and any subsequent
appeal
In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...
, under the authority and control of the court. Since the arrangement had been called for by
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1192
UN Security Council Resolution 1192, adopted unanimously on 27 August 1998, after recalling resolutions 731 (1992), 748 (1992) and 883 (1993), the council welcomed an initiative to try two Libyan suspects accused of the bombing of Pan Am Flig ...
, it was given effect in Scots law by an
Order-in-Council
An Order-in-Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council (''Ki ...
under the
United Nations Act 1946.
Dutch law still theoretically applied to the area, but, barring an emergency, the Dutch authorities were banned from entering the premises and the court had the authority to enact regulations that superseded Dutch law when necessary for the execution of the trial, and to jail people for
contempt of court
Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the cou ...
.
The court itself, as well as people involved in the trial (officials of the court, accused, witnesses, solicitors, etc.), also enjoyed total or partial immunity from Dutch law.
Verdict
The court convicted
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi
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, birth_date =
, birth_place = Tripoli, Kingdom of Libya
, death_date =
, death_place = Tripoli, Libya
, cause = Prostate cancer
, nationality = Libyan
, race = Arab
, g ...
of 270 counts of murder in connection with the bombing on 31 January 2001. The second accused,
Lamin Khalifah Fhimah
Lamin Khalifah Fhimah ( ar, الأمين خليفة فحيمة, ''al-Amīn Khalīfah Faḥīmah''; born 4 April 1956) is a former station manager for Libyan Arab Airlines at Luqa Airport, Malta. On 31 January 2001, he was acquitted of 270 count ...
, was
acquitted
In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as criminal law is concerned. The finality of an acquittal is dependent on the jurisdiction. In some countries, such as the ...
. Megrahi's appeal was also held at the court (the High Court of Justiciary is the highest
court of appeal
A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...
in the Scottish
criminal justice
Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing othe ...
system), and was rejected on 14 March 2002. The site was then decommissioned and returned to the Dutch government. Megrahi served his sentence at
Greenock prison
HMP Greenock is a prison located in Greenock, Scotland, serving designated courts in western Scotland by holding male prisoners on remand, and short-term convicted prisoners. It also provides a national facility for selected prisoners serving 1 ...
in
Inverclyde
Inverclyde ( sco, Inerclyde, gd, Inbhir Chluaidh, , "mouth of the Clyde") is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Together with the East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire council areas, Inverclyde forms part of the hi ...
.
From September 2003, Megrahi's conviction was under review by the
Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, which reported its findings on 28 June 2007 and granted Megrahi leave for a second appeal against conviction.
Diagnosed with prostate cancer and with an estimated three- to six-month life expectancy,
Megrahi was released from Greenock prison in August 2009 after serving eight years, through a decision on
compassionate grounds by the Scottish justice minister,
Kenny MacAskill
Kenneth Wright MacAskill (born 28 April 1958) is a Scottish politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for East Lothian since 2019. He previously served as Cabinet Secretary for Justice from 2007 to 2014 and was a Member of the Scottish ...
. He returned to Libya, where he died in May 2012.
See also
*
Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial
*
Hans Köchler's Lockerbie trial observer mission
Hans Köchler's Lockerbie trial observer mission stemmed from the dispute between the United Kingdom, the United States, and Libya concerning arrangements for the trial of two Libyans accused of causing the explosion of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lock ...
References
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2000 establishments in the Netherlands
2001 disestablishments in the Netherlands
2000 in British law
2001 in British law
2000 in Scotland
2001 in Scotland
Buildings and structures in Utrecht (province)
Pan Am Flight 103
Scottish case law
Courts of Scotland
Scottish criminal law
Defunct organisations based in Scotland
High Court of Justiciary
Netherlands–United Kingdom relations
Netherlands–United States relations
Libya–United Kingdom relations
Libya–United States relations
Libya–Netherlands relations
United Kingdom–United States relations
Zeist