Scottish Labour calls for Lord Advocate ministerial code investigation

Scottish Labour has called for an investigation into whether the Lord Advocate breached the ministerial code over the sharing of information relating to the prosecution of Peter Murrell.

It emerged last week that Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC had informed First Minister John Swinney on January 19 that Peter Murrell – the former SNP chief executive – had been charged with embezzling almost £460,000 from the party.

That was weeks before the indictment was made public.

Dame Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour’s deputy leader, has now written to the Scottish Government’s Independent Advisers on the Ministerial Code urging them to consider investigating “potential breaches” of the Ministerial Code by the Lord Advocate.

She raised questions about whether the information gave the First Minister a “potential political advantage” and whether the Lord Advocate misled Parliament.

The Lord Advocate has a dual role serving as the head of prosecutions in Scotland, as well as the Government’s chief legal adviser, being appointed by the First Minister.

In her letter Dame Jackie said she was writing “in connection with the prosecution of Peter Murrell and related communications with the First Minister and SNP advisers.”

She said: “A core requirement of the Ministerial Code is that Ministers provide Parliament with honest and accurate information, and that any inadvertent inaccuracies are corrected at the earliest opportunity.

“I am concerned that the Lord Advocate’s handling of this matter raises serious questions about the accuracy of what was said to Parliament and whether the First Minister and his political advisers received access to prosecutorial information that was not available to the public and media, creating a potential political advantage.

“I am in no way seeking to question the Lord Advocate’s record as a prosecutor or detract from her accomplishments. However, the public do deserve answers about this worrying incident.

“It has been reported that the Lord Advocate disclosed to John Swinney information about the prosecution that was not in the public domain, and that this information was shared with SNP advisers.

“That is profoundly troubling given the constitutional sensitivity of the Lord Advocate’s dual role and the need to maintain confidence in the independence of prosecutorial decision-making from political interests.”

She urged the advisers to consider whether to launch an investigation into “potential breaches” including whether Parliament was misled by the Lord Advocate’s description of the indictment’s status and whether non-public prosecutorial information was “improperly disclosed” to the First Minister and/or SNP advisers.

Dame Jackie wrote: “The victim of this matter is not any individual politician, but the integrity of the system and those who have a right to expect that Scotland’s institutions are not used in a way that advantages a governing party.”

The Lord Advocate appeared at Holyrood to discuss the matter last week and said that sharing information about the indictment did not confer any political advantage.

The Scottish Government and Crown Office have been approached for comment.

Murrell had been expected to appear at the High Court in Glasgow for a preliminary hearing on Friday February 20 but this has now been moved to May 25 at the High Court in Edinburgh.