Chamber and committees

I am trying to work out the range of civil proceedings that that might cover; would it cover contact cases?

Is it refused, then?

I will raise the question that other members have posed about the effectiveness of commissioners who have been appointed in the past. In relation to the children’s commissioner’s remit, the Government has initiated all the relevant legislation in the Parliament. I am struggling to think of a substantive issue that the Scottish Human Rights Commission has raised in the Parliament that has not been determined by a court. My questions arise from that.

I will follow on from John Swinney’s questions about accountability. Can one postholder do all this—hold the Lord Advocate to account, hold the legal profession to account and hold the court to account? We all agree that that would be desirable, but it is difficult to envisage how that could all be wrapped up in one person. I ask Kate Wallace whether she accepts any of that.

I agree with that; I think that we all agree with that. However, you are convinced that one person—the commissioner—could hold all the criminal justice agencies to account. That is your organisation’s position.

Is it fair to say that, as Ann Marie Cocozza said, victims are asking for a voice in a system in which they feel submerged by a lack of accountability? The question is about what the way forward should be.

Rape Crisis Scotland has posed a question about the need for legal advocacy, and my next question is for Ann Marie Cocozza as well as Kate Wallace. I can see how bodies could be more accountable for court proceedings and co-ordination. The committee has heard ad infinitum, including through Kate Wallace’s organisation, about the terrible experience of victims who have not been advised of court changes. Would the money be better spent on legal advocacy to provide a hands-on person to hold people to account?

Is that mainly about pre-recorded evidence, or have other special measures not been implemented?

I really want to address the question of special measures, because I thought that we had had significant reform to that. That included screens. Do children give evidence behind screens?

No, my interest has been covered.

For those cases where there has been a conviction and there is a civil case—a divorce case, for example, as you have said—are you talking about changing the procedure post-conviction?

Why not?