'Character assassination' attack on Chhokar report

The Jandoo report on the Chhokar case was criticised

The Scottish National Party has accused the author of one of the Chhokar reports of making "character assassination".

The party's justice spokeswoman Roseanna Cunningham said the tone of the report by Dr Raj Jandoo effectively justified the concerns the family had about the inquiry.

The Scottish Conservatives said both reports highlighted the need for extra resources for the criminal justice system.

The Commission for Racial Equality and Strathyclyde Police both stressed the need for public bodies to ensure that they did not fail minority sections of the community.

Roseanna Cunningham: "Less satisfactory"

While questioning the Lord Advocate Colin Boyd in the Scottish parliament, Roseanna Cunningham called for a "real investigation" into why the contents of both reports were leaked to Sunday newspapers.

She praised the Campbell report as a "very objective piece of work" but reserved stern criticism for the Jandoo report.

"I find this a far less satisfactory report than the Campbell report," she said.

Ms Cunningham asked the Lord Advocate "why the report proceeded on the basis of what is effectively character assassination of individuals?"

She added: "Does that character assassination not effectively justify the concerns the family had about the conduct of the inquiry in the first place?"

The Scottish Conservatives also voiced disquiet that both reports appeared to highlight funding problems in the criminal justice system.

'Lack of resources'

The party's justice spokesman Lord James Douglas Hamilton asked: "Having been an interim fiscal myself, will the Lord Advocate please ensure that the fiscal service and the Crown Office will receive the necessary resources from the administration?"

He also said that "no part of the service should be under disproportionate stress" during daily proceedings.

Lord James said that any future review of the service should be undertaken with the view that "prosecutions should not be adversely affected by the lack of resources or too few staff".

Lord James Douglas Hamilton: "Too few staff"

Race relations experts say that society now has to face up to some huge issues.

Mick Conboy from the Commission for Racial Equality said: "The whole situation from investigation to the final reports has clearly demonstrated that there's a lot our institutions need to be doing."

In a statement issued after both reports were published, Strathclyde Police pointed out that only one report accused them of "institutional racism".

Assistant chief constable Graeme Pearson said: The term 'institutional racism' does not refer to individuals but to practices and processes that prevent members of the minority ethnic community from obtaining the high standard of service to which they are rightly entitled.

"It would be naive of us to think that all our procedures and practices are user friendly to the minority ethnic community or indeed to the public generally.

Our officers endeavoured to provide the very best service possible to the family of Surjit Singh Chhokar following his tragic murder

Assistant chief constable, Graeme Pearson

"Strathclyde Police fully recognises that we, as an organisation, occupy a central and crucial role in society. We must therefore provide a service which is beyond reproach in terms of treating people as individuals and with absolute respect for their race, religion, culture and beliefs.

"We are working hard to ensure that we meet the standards expected."

Mr Pearson said that the term 'institutional racism' could be applied to many organisations if they were "truthfully scrutinized".

He added: "Institutional racism is rarely about deliberate malice, ill will or prejudice within an organisation. It is about not fully appreciating and responding to the needs of ethnic minorities."

"Our officers endeavoured to provide the very best service possible to the family of Surjit Singh Chhokar following his tragic murder. We will now examine these reports carefully to see where they believe shortfalls occurred in our liaison with the Chhokar family."