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Fingerprint Inquiry
14/12/2011
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said today he believed the detailed findings of the three year public judicial inquiry into the Shirley McKie fingerprint case would further enhance the delivery of Scotland's forensic services.
Sir Anthony Campbell published the detailed report of his Inquiry into Fingerprints in Scotland today.
The public judicial inquiry was established in March 2008 by the Scottish Government, with a remit to:
- Inquire into the steps that were taken to identify and verify the fingerprints associated with, and leading up to, the case of HM Advocate v. McKie in 1999
- Determine, in relation to the fingerprint designated Y7, the consequences of the steps taken, or not taken
- Report findings of fact and make recommendations as to what measures might now be introduced, beyond those that have already been introduced since 1999, to ensure that any shortcomings are avoided in the future
Mr MacAskill said:
"This is a comprehensive and detailed report and I would like to thank Sir Anthony Campbell and his team for their dedicated work on the Fingerprint Inquiry.
"For well over a decade, the Shirley McKie case has cast a shadow of uncertainty and suspicion over the individuals involved and the wider Scottish criminal justice system. Though previous reviews had helped address some key issues, they had not resolved them all.
"This government was firmly of the view that as long as some matters remained unresolved, and public concern remained, that the right and proper action was to establish an independent public judicial inquiry into the case.
"Scotland's Criminal Justice system is a cornerstone of our society, and it is paramount that there is total public confidence in it.
"Though there is a lot to digest in Sir Anthony's report, I believe that the Fingerprint Inquiry has brought to an end the many years of uncertainty surrounding the Shirley McKie case and has, I sincerely hope, brought welcome closure to those involved.
"We should all recognise that there have been significant advances in the delivery of Scotland's forensic services since the McKie case, and I am confident that the recommendations from this Inquiry will further enhance these services.
"We said when we set up this inquiry that it was not intended to try or retry any individual for events of the past, nor to challenge the decisions of the prosecution, the defence or the courts in relation to any of those events. It was to open up and understand those events and to learn from them to ensure that Scotland has a fully efficient, effective and robust approach to the identification, verification and presentation of fingerprint material.
"Sir Anthony's report delivers on this and gives all those involved the clear basis for moving forward with a system that commands full public confidence."
The Rt Hon Sir Anthony Campbell was one of the most senior judges in Northern Ireland at the time he was appointed to chair the Inquiry. He was educated at Campbell College, Belfast and Queens' College, Cambridge, called to the Bar of Northern Ireland (NI) in 1960 and to the Bar of England and Wales by Gray's Inn in the same year. From 1971 he was Junior Counsel to the Attorney General for NI until 1974 when he took Silk and Senior Crown Counsel from 1984-1988. He was a judge of the High Court from 1988-1998 and then a Lord Justice of Appeal before retiring in August 2008.