§ Mr. McKinlayasked the Lord Advocate whether he is aware of the decision in the High Court of Justiciary, Edinburgh, in the appeal by K. P. Keane against a conviction for a food control offence, wherein it was laid down by the court that representatives of an appellant who had died prior to the hearing of the appeal could not be made parties to an appeal in a criminal cause; and will he take steps to afford representatives of appellants the same rights in such circumstances as would have been enjoyed by the deceased?
§ The Lord AdvocateI am aware of the circumstances of Mr. Keane's case; after Mr. Keane's death the fine was no longer exigible, and his representatives had, therefore, no financial interest in the appeal. To alter the existing law would require legislation. Any such legislation would raise wide issues, which I do not feel justified in raising during the war.