The End of the Lockerbie Case
| Published date | 01 February 2010 |
| Author | Robert Shiels |
| DOI | 10.1350/jcla.2010.74.1.614 |
| Date | 01 February 2010 |
| Subject Matter | Comment |
COMMENT
The End of the Lockerbie Case
Robert Shiels*
Keywords Major crime of international interest; Megrahi v HM Advocate;
Reference for further appeal; Satellite legislation; Complete abandon-
ment of reference
In an incident over Lockerbie in Scotland on 21 December 1988 an
aircraft was destroyed and many people died. The extraordinary legal
problems arising from that event required special remedies.1The pro-
secution of two accused said to be responsible for the crucial event led,
in Scots law at any rate, to a remarkable number of reported decisions
arising out of a single case.2After trial one accused was acquitted and
another convicted, and in due course an appeal against that conviction
was refused.3The nature of the event at Lockerbie suggested from the
outset that the refusal of the appeal against conviction would not end
the matter.4
Review of conviction
The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (‘the SCCRC’) was put
on a statutory basis by ss 194A–194L of and Sched. 9A to the Criminal
Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995. The Commission is not regarded as the
servant or agent of the Crown or as enjoying any status, immunity or
privilege of the Crown; and the Commission’s property is not to be
regarded as property of, or held on behalf of, the Crown (1995 Act,
s. 194A(2)). The most pertinent power of the SCCRC in the present
context is, following ‘on the consideration of any conviction of a per-
son’, to ‘refer the whole case’ to the High Court of Justiciary where that
case is to be heard and determined as if it was an appeal in the ordinary
way (1995 Act, s. 194B(1)). The ground for such a reference is that the
SCCRC believes that a miscarriage may have occurred and that it is in
the interests of justice that a reference should be made (1995 Act,
s. 194C).
(a) The statement of reasons
The statement of reasons by the SCCRC for the reference of the Megrahi
case extends to over 800 pages and is accompanied by a further 13
* Solicitor in Scotland; e-mail: robertshiels@hotmail.com.
1 R. S. Shiels, ‘Scots Criminal Law in the Netherlands’ (1999) 63 JCL 154.
2 R. S. Shiels, ‘The Lockerbie Case Law’ (2002) 66 JCL 374.
3Megrahi vHM Advocate 2002 SLT 1433.
4 See Shiels, above n. 2 at 379.
27The Journal of Criminal Law (2010) 74 JCL 27–30
doi:10.1350/jcla.2010.74.1.614
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