A brief thread about the powers of the Scottish Parliament to compel witnesses and the delicate topic the penalties for making false statements and declarations. Firstly, there is a helpful paper here parliament.scot/parliamentaryb… 1/7 s23 of the Scotland Act 1998 gives Parliament the power to order any person to attend to give evidence concerning any subject for which any member of the Scottish Government has general responsibility. This power can be used by committees under r12.4.1 of standing orders 2/7

#fakelaw alert. The Conservatives call for the doubling of “prison sentences for thugs who assault emergency workers” because the maximum sentence is currently 12 months. That isn’t true. Let’s see why (a thread) 1/5 dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/… Assaults on police officers, firefighters and paramedics are rightly viewed by Sheriffs and Judges as serious offences. Just look at this recent example where a 2-year prison sentence was imposed for such an attack dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-new… 2/5

How does the SNP’s plan to suspend jury trials compare the suspension of jury trials in Northern Ireland during the troubles with the Diplock Courts? Jury trials were abolished there in 1973 to stop jury ‘nobbling’ and witness tampering. 1/8 After the Good Friday Agreement, the Diplock Courts were largely abolished, but DPP retains the power under s1 Justice and Security (Northern Ireland) Act 2007 to direct that trial of an accused for certain offences to be by a judge sitting without a jury 2/8