Post-mortem Time Limit Bill falls at stage 1
A bill to set a 14 day time limit on defence instructions for post mortems on victims of crime has been voted down at stage 1 in the Scottish Parliament.
The member's bill, introduced by SNP member Gil Paterson, would have required such instructions to be given within 14 days (extendable on application to the court) of the defence receiving the result of the Crown post mortem.
Mr Paterson has been campaigning on the issue since 2016, on behalf of the family of Paige Munro who was murdered at the age of 15. Her body was not released to the family for 30 days, causing great distress.
Crown Office has since put in place a protocol with the aim of minimising delays and improving information sharing, but Mr Paterson believes binding rules are needed.
Members from all parties expressed sympathy with Mr Paterson's aims, but the Justice Committee, which scrutinised the bill, was unable to carry out a full evidence gathering, due to lack of time, and was unable to make a recommendation to the Parliament on the general principles. Convener Adam Tomkins told MSPs that it appeared that the number of occasions when the problem arose was very small; that when it did occur, it was caused by a shortage of available forensic pathologists; and the the protocol had helped to address the issues.
At the vote, Mr Paterson had the support of Labour and Green MSPs but not his party colleagues or the other parties, and the bill was defeated by 90 votes to 26, with one abstention.