§ 35. Mr. Russell Johnstonasked the Lord Advocate whether he proposes to abolish the need for corroboration in criminal law in Scotland.
§ The Lord AdvocateNo, Sir. In my view, the general rule requiring corroboration should remain. There are some statutory exceptions to this general rule, and it may well be that from time to time other exceptions would fall to be 453 considered as points of difficulty arise in this field.
§ Mr. JohnstonWhile accepting the general point which the right hon. and learned Gentleman makes, is there not a case for looking again at the matter and trying to establish some distinction between trivial and serious offences? The fact, for example, that two traffic wardens are required in a relatively trivial offence seems somewhat unnecessary.
§ The Lord AdvocateValue judgments come into the question of what is trivial and what is not. Some of the exceptions are in the poaching Acts and others are in the Road Traffic Act.
§ Mr. FairbairnWhile protecting jealously the important safeguard of corroboration, will the right hon. and learned Gentleman see whether there are not statutory and technical offences which could be excluded from the general rule?
§ The Lord AdvocateI am always open to representations on that topic.