§ Mr. MilburnTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many cases of murder have(a) been brought and (b) been successfully prosecuted in the last 10 years in Scottish courts where a victim has died more than 366 days after the offence had taken place.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThe period of 366 days is of no particular significance in Scotland and no such statistics are kept. There have, however, been cases in which a victim has survived for a number of months before succumbing to injuries sustained in an attack. Although problems of causation might arise, there is in principle no reason in Scotland why a prosecution for murder should not follow even after a year and a day.