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Inquests for military personnel killed abroad
22/01/2009
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has today written to the UK Armed Forces Minister Bob Ainsworth to invite him to a meeting to discuss the ongoing issue of the holding of inquiries into the deaths of military personnel on active service abroad.
Recent proposals from the UK Government may act as the basis for a solution to this ongoing issue which affects the families of Scottish based service personnel. However, there are still a number of outstanding issues which need to be addressed.
The UK Government's proposals are:
- in appropriate cases, the Secretary of State would, if the body was still outside the UK and in consultation with the bereaved families concerned, seek the agreement of the Lord Advocate to hold an FAI: if she agreed to do so, he would repatriate the body to Scotland
- if the body or bodies had already been repatriated to elsewhere in the UK, in appropriate cases, the Chief Coroner would in consultation with the bereaved families concerned, seek the agreement of the Lord Advocate to hold an FAI into the case: if she agreed, he would transfer the body into Scottish jurisdiction
- the discretion to decide which cases were appropriate for repatriation to Scotland or transfer to Scottish jurisdiction appropriate cases would rest with the UK authorities, working in partnership with the Scottish Government on a case by case basis in the best interests of the service families concerned
Responding to the proposals after writing to Bob Ainsworth, Mr MacAskill said:
"The Scottish Government have been working for some time with the UK Government to try and resolve this complicated but important issue for service personnel and their families.
"I now believe that these latest proposals from the UK Armed Forces Minister, which are similar to the ones that were included in a letter from me to the previous Armed Forces Minister, could provide a system that could result in the inquests into the deaths abroad of Scottish-based service personnel being dealt with in Scotland, when appropriate.
"I have today written to Bob Ainsworth to invite him to a meeting to try and resolve the outstanding issues.
"The Scottish Government is well aware of the sensitivities around this issue for service families and we are determined to reach a solution as soon as possible."