Boyd dismisses court crisis fears

The legal challenges began at Linlithgow Sheriff Court

Scotland's senior law officer has sought to play down fears that an estimated 9,000 convictions could be overturned.

The Lord Advocate Colin Boyd said he was considering the implications of a ruling by law lords which said the use of temporary sheriffs breached human rights law.

The ruling threw into question an estimated 9,000 cases dealt with between May and November 1999.

However, in an exclusive interview, Mr Boyd told BBC Scotland that while most of about 120 appeals in cases where temporary sheriffs presided were likely to succeed, he could not foresee any more.

Colin Boyd: Flood of appeals unlikely

Mr Boyd said he held the view that those who had not lodged an appeal by now would not succeed in doing so.

He told BBC Scotland: "We'll have to look at that when it occurs but they're not in precisely the same position.

"They will have delayed, of course, taking any proceedings for perhaps two years and the question will be whether or not, having delayed taking any proceedings, whether they are now entitled to do so."

On Wednesday, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council issued a judgement on four test cases where people were convicted or sentenced by temporary sheriffs after the Scotland Act became law in May 1999.

It was argued that the Act, which brought about devolution for Scotland, meant the lord advocate was no longer independent because he was a member of the Scottish Executive.

Temporary sheriffs, who were appointed by the lord advocate without security of tenure to ease pressure on the court system, could therefore be seen as political appointees.

This was deemed to be in contravention of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) which has been incorporated into Scots law.

Question mark

About 9,000 people were dealt with by temporary sheriffs between devolution and the suspension of the system of appointments.

It was believed that technically they could all call for their convictions to be overturned.

However, the lord advocate has sought to rule this out.

Many lawyers and opposition MSPs said the executive should have been aware of the possible pitfall.

The Scottish National Party's justice spokeswoman, Roseanna Cunningham, said: "There were many of us saying right at the start that they should have ceased using temporary sheriffs the minute that a real question mark was raised in terms of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The case was made under human rights law

"This was one of the areas that people were flagging up very early. So I do think that the executive tactic of waiting until their hand was forced has massively backfired in this case."

Iain Smith, who acted for two men in one of the original cases at Linlithgow Sheriff Court, agreed that many of the cases may not be retried because the time limit for hearing them has expired.

In theory, people jailed by temporary sheriffs could also claim compensation for time spent in prison if their convictions are quashed.

Mr Boyd said: ""There will be cases of course when the issue of compensation does arise and we'll have to look at those carefully and in the circumstances where that might be payable but that will be a matter for the executive as a whole."

However, leading civil lawyer Cameron Fyfe said it could be difficult to succeed with a claim.

Miscarriage of justice

He said: "I think these people would have difficulty in making a claim for compensation because they would have to show that there was a fundamental miscarriage of justice.

"This is really a technical matter and I don't think that would open the door to compensation, but on the other hand it's not clear cut because there's never been a case like this before."

The Crown Office said convictions would not be quashed automatically, but an order could be made to retry them before a permanent sheriff.