§ 84. Mr. M. MacPhersonasked the Lord Advocate what legislative or administrative steps are necessary to end the use of the "Not proven" verdict in Scottish courts; and, in view of the fact that provision for the use of this verdict is not consistent with the principle that a person should be held innocent until he is proved guilty, whether he will initiate such steps.
The Lord AdvocateThe "Not proven" verdict forms part of the Common Law of Scotland and has obtained for centuries. If the use of the verdict were to be ended legislation would be required. When the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act, 1949, was before the House, I canvassed the views of representative bodies in Scotland, including the highest judicial authorities, on the question of the retention or abolition of this form of verdict, and discovered that there was an almost unanimous opinion in favour of its retention. In the circumstances, it was decided to take no action along the lines now proposed and I do not consider that anything has occurred in the interval to justify a change in that decision.