Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to open an independent inquiry into the 2001 Kamp van Zeist conviction of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi for the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 in December 1988.
Petitioner: Dr Jim Swire on behalf of Justice for Megrahi
Status: Under consideration
Date published: 08 October 2010
Click here for the full petition
9 November 2010: The Public Committee took evidence from Dr Jim Swire, Professor Robert Black QC, Mr Robert Forrester, Father Patrick Keegans and Mr Iain McKie and agreed to write to the Scottish Government seeking responses to points raised in the petition and during the discussion.
Official Report of Meeting 9 November 2010
25 January 2011: The Public Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government, Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service seeking a response to specific points.
Official Report of Meeting 25 January 2011
1 March 2011: The Public Committee agreed to invite, in its legacy paper, the Session 4 Public Petitions Committee to give further consideration to the petition.
28 June 2011: The Public Committee agreed to refer the petition to the Justice Committee under Rule 15.6.2 for further consideration.
Official Report of Meeting 28 June 2011
8 November 2011: The Justice Committee considered PE1370 by Dr Jim Swire, Professor Robert Black QC, Mr Robert Forrester, Father Patrick Keegans and Mr Iain McKie on behalf of Justice for Megrahi calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to open an independent inquiry into the 2001 Kamp van Zeist conviction of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi for the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 in December 1988 and agreed: by division (For 6, Against 3, Abstentions 0), to keep the petition open pending the outcome of Lord Carloway's review of Scottish criminal procedure and evidence and the Committee's consideration of forthcoming Scottish Government legislation concerning the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission.
Official Report of Meeting 8 November 2011
25 September 2012: The Justice Committee considered PE1370 by Dr Jim Swire, Professor Robert Black QC, Robert Forrester, Father Patrick Keegans and Iain McKie on behalf of Justice for Megrahi on opening an independent inquiry into the 2001 Kamp van Zeist conviction of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi for the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 in December 1988: to keep the petition open pending a response from the Scottish Government to correspondence from Justice for Megrahi.
Official Report of Meeting 25 September 2012
18 February 2014: The Justice Committee considered PE1370 by Dr Jim Swire, Professor Robert Black QC, Robert Forrester, Father Patrick Keegans and Iain McKie on Justice for Megrahi and agreed to keep the petition open and to write to the Chief Constable seeking clarification regarding the handling of the petitioners' concerns by Police Scotland; and the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission to ascertain whether an application to review the conviction of Mr Al-Megrahi has been made recently.
Official Report of Meeting 18 February 2014
3 June 2014: The Justice Committee agreed to keep the petition open and to keep matters under review.
Official Report of Meeting 3 June 2014
4 November 2014: The Justice Committee agreed to monitor the progress being made between Justice for Megrahi and Police Scotland and to consider the petition again at a future meeting.
Official Report of Meeting 4 November 2014
3 February 2015: The Justice Committee considered PE1370 by Dr Jim Swire, Professor Robert Black QC, Robert Forrester, Father Patrick Keegans and Iain McKie on Justice for Megrahi and agreed to note recent correspondence from Justice for Megrahi and latest developments with the case, and to keep the petition open.
Official Report of Meeting 3 February 2015
21 April 2015: The Justice Committee considered PE1370 by Dr Jim Swire, Professor Robert Black QC, Robert Forrester, Father Patrick Keegans and Iain McKie on Justice for Megrahi and agreed to write to the Lord Advocate seeking his views on the petitioners' suggestion of appointing an independent prosecutor to consider the forthcoming Police Scotland report and to keep the petition open.
Official Report of Meeting 21 April 2015
22 September 2015: The Justice Committee considered PE1370 by Dr Jim Swire, Professor Robert Black QC, Robert Forrester, Father Patrick Keegans and Iain McKie on Justice for Megrahi and agreed to keep the petition open, and to write to the Lord Advocate seeking clarification on the status of the independent Counsel referred to in prior correspondence.
Official Report of Meeting 22 September 2015
5 January 2016: The Justice Committee considered PE1370 by Dr Jim Swire, Professor Robert Black QC, Robert Forrester, Father Patrick Keegans and Iain McKie on Justice for Megrahi and agreed to write to the Lord Advocate asking him to respond to recent correspondence from the petitioners and to keep the petition open whilst monitoring the progress of the Police Scotland investigation known as Operation Sandwood.
Official Report of Meeting 5 January 2016
23 February 2016: The Justice Committee considered PE1370 by Dr Jim Swire, Professor Robert Black QC, Robert Forrester, Father Patrick Keegans and Iain McKie on Justice for Megrahi and agreed to write to the Lord Advocate expressing disappointment at his late reply to the Committee, and to consider the petition further at a future meeting.
Official Report of Meeting 23 February 2016
1 March 2016: The Justice Committee considered PE1370 by Dr Jim Swire, Professor Robert Black QC, Robert Forrester, Father Patrick Keegans and Iain McKie on Justice for Megrahi and agreed to write to Police Scotland seeking further information regarding the progress of Operation Sandwood, to keep the petition open and to recommend that a future justice committee gives further consideration to it.
Official Report of Meeting 1 March 2016
At its meetings on 27 September 2016, 17 January 2017, 2 May 2017 , 5 September 2017 and 19 December 2017 the Committee agreed to keep the petition open pending the completion of Operation Sandwood.
Official Report of Meeting 27 September 2016
Official Report of Meeting 17 January 2017
Official Report of Meeting 2 May 2017
Official Report of Meeting 5 September 2017
Official Report of Meeting 19 December 2017
At its meeting on 27 March 2018, the Justice Committee decided to keep the petition open, and write to Police Scotland and the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission requesting information on issues raised during discussion of the petition; and ask the Scottish Parliament Information Centre to provide a briefing on the petition.
Official Report of Meeting 27 March 2018
Following the meeting on 27 March 2018, the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) announced a review into the subject matter broadly covered by the petition in order to decide whether it would be appropriate to refer the matter for a fresh appeal. The Committee intends, therefore, to keep the petition open pending the outcome of that review but will not be considering the petition until the review is complete.
2 March 2021: The Justice Committee agreed to keep the petition open.
Official Report of the Meeting 2 March 2021
Read any written submissions received by the Justice Committee before May 2021 on our old site
26 January 2021: The Criminal Justice Committee agreed to keep the petition open.
Official Report of the Meeting 26 January 2021
Justice for Megrahi Submission on Petition PE1370 (, ) posted 25 January 2022posted 25 January 2022