Holyrood passes Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths Bill

The Scottish Government bill to modernise the fatal accident inquiry process passed its final stage in the Scottish Parliament yesterday.

The Inquiries into Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths etc (Scotland) Bill implements most of the remaining recommendations of Lord Cullen's 2009 report into the system of investigating sudden deaths in Scotland.

Discretionary FAIs into the deaths of Scots abroad will also be introduced for the first time.

The bill also provides for:

• mandatory FAIs for new categories of deaths, including the deaths of children in secure accommodation and deaths under police arrest, regardless of location;
• the power to reopen a FAI if new evidence arises, and to hold a fresh FAI if the new evidence is substantial enough;
• flexibility on the locations and accommodation for FAIs;
• a requirement on individuals or organisations to explain how they have implemented recommendations placed on them by a sheriff after a FAI, or why none have been implemented.

Crown Office will also introduce a family liaison charter, to stand alongside the bill, to keep bereaved families fully informed of the progress of a death investigation and the likelihood of criminal proceedings or a fatal accident inquiry. The charter provisions were proposed by Labour MSP Pamela Ferguson, who introduced a separate bill proposing more radical changes to the inquiry system, progress on which was stopped in the hope that an agreed position could be reached on the present bill. However further amendments at stage 2 proposed by Ms Ferguson, providing for the disapplying of the financial eligibility tests for civil legal aid were removed at stage 3 despite support from opposition parties.  

The Parliament also agreed to remove stage 2 amendments providing for a mandatory FAI in the case of detained mental health patients. Members accepted that there might be better alternatives and ministers agreed to bring forward the review provided for under the Mental Health (Scotland) Act 2015.

Following representations by the Scottish Government, the UK Government has agreed, in principle, for mandatory FAIs to be held into the deaths of service personnel in Scotland. The bill could not provide for the holding of FAIs into the deaths of service personnel in Scotland, as this relates to defence, which is reserved to the UK Government.

Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs, Paul Wheelhouse, said: “This new legislation will strengthen fatal accident inquiry legislation and bring it into the 21st century, ensuring that inquiries are effective, efficient and fair through implementing the recommendations of Lord Cullen. In particular, the introduction of the possibility of a FAI for deaths abroad is a hugely important step."