§ 46. Mr. Wallaceasked the Solicitor-General for Scotland whether the Lord Advocate has instituted any changes in the use and manner of libelling of charges of mobbing and rioting, in the light of the comments in the letter to him from the chairman of the Scottish Law Commission dated 24 February; and if he will make a statement.
§ The Solicitor-General for ScotlandThe Lord Advocate has instructed that the chairman's comments be borne in mind when preparing indictments in cases of mobbing and rioting, and the matter is to be further discussed by me with Crown counsel.
§ Mr. WallaceDoes the Solicitor-General acknowledge that the import of the letter from the chairman of the Scottish Law Commission was that some practical steps could resolve the problem, rather than the introduction of new statutory offences? Using the same logic, does the Solicitor-General consider that, rather than introduce the new statutory Public Order Bill, as it applies to Scotland, he should rely more on sensitive policing, as practised by the police for many years? We should not go down the road proposed by the Bill, which could bring the police into a degree of political conflict.
§ The Solicitor-General for ScotlandI am not sure what that question has to do with mobbing and rioting. However, I recall that during the miners' strike a number of Opposition Members saw the then Secretary of State and myself to say that, in certain circumstances, they thought the existing common law in Scotland was inappropriate to deal with such public order situations.