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High Court of Justiciary

Document Cited authorities 1 Cited in Related
Vincent
Published date01 January 2004
Date01 January 2004
AuthorRobert Shiels
DOI10.1350/jcla.68.1.42.25837
Subject MatterHigh Court of Justiciary
JCL 68(1).doc..High Court Just. .. Page42
High Court of Justiciary
Contempt of Court by Lawyer in Practice
HM Advocate v Dickie 2002 SLT 1083
HM Advocate v Tarbett 2003 SLT 1288
In HM Advocate v Dickie, an accused had been charged on indictment for
a trial that was ultimately due to begin in the High Court of Justiciary
sitting at Forfar on 6 February 2002. Following a postponement of the
commencement of the trial due to lack of representation of the accused,
the relevant member of the Bar and the instructing solicitor were
ordered to appear before the trial judge on the question of whether their
conduct amounted to a contempt of court.
HELD, MAKING NO FINDING OF CONTEMPT, the court had jurisdiction to
determine the issues of contempt and to impose a penalty in cases of
contempt arising out of the conduct of counsel in the same way as
solicitors.
The court observed that counsel and solicitors have a mutual obliga-
tion to ensure the representation of the accused and they must maintain
contact with each other.
HM Advocate v Tarbett was different: counsel (M) for the accused (T)
was held in contempt and fined £500. T and others were charged on
indictment for a trial that was ultimately due to begin in the High Court
of Justiciary sitting at Edinburgh on 1 July 2003. M was not present
although the instructing solicitor was there.
The trial judge examined in detail the antecedent procedure of the
case against T and also two others in which M had been instructed and
which were calling at or about the same time. A dispute on the facts
arose as to what the legally qualified High Court Sitting Manager had or
had not said to M. The factual dispute was resolved by reference to
e-mails that had passed on an earlier occasion.
The trial judge had ‘serious reservations’ that the allegations made by
M, of assurances said to have been given to him by the High Court
Sitting Manager, could have been the result of an honest mistake. These
and other unspecified matters were remitted to the relevant professional
body...

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