Judge will not seek to 'direct' work of Salmond inquiry
- Published
Alex Salmond has offered to resubmit some of his evidence to the Holyrood inquiry
A top judge has said she will not seek to "direct" the work of the Holyrood inquiry into the botched handling of complaints against Alex Salmond.
The Spectator magazine had asked Lady Dorrian to clarify a court order to make sure MSPs knew what they could and could not publish about the row.
She said the original order was clear, but made a minor change to "avoid any slight risk of misinterpretation".
The committee will meet again on Wednesday to discuss this.
It is not yet clear whether it will allow further documents to be published, which Mr Salmond had set as a condition for appearing to give evidence in person.
The Spectator had applied to the High Court to amend a court order which dates back to Mr Salmond's criminal trial in March 2020, which saw him acquitted of 13 charges of sexual assault.
They voiced concerns that the Holyrood inquiry was being "overly cautious" in refusing to publish certain submissions from the former first minister, and said they wanted to "give the committee clarification and comfort that they can carry out their original remit without having to shy away completely from this important topic".
Lady Dorrian - the judge from the trial - agreed to make a change, although not the one the news magazine had suggested.
In her written reasons, published on Monday, the Lord Justice Clerk said she believed that the original wording of the order was "clear" and that "there should be no confusion about the matter".
However she said that "any slight risk of misinterpretation could readily be addressed by the addition of a few words".
Nicola Sturgeon had been due to appear at the committee on Tuesday, but the session was put off
The judge said that all matters relating to the decisions of the committee and "the rejection or acceptance of submissions" were for MSPs, as long as they kept within the law.
She said it was "not for this court to interfere" or to "seek to direct the committee in any way".
Mr Salmond had been expected to appear before the inquiry last week, but the session was cancelled after the committee said his lawyers had set conditions for attending which they "simply could never meet".
These included the publication of his submissions - which MSPs narrowly voted not to support - as well as a range of assurances including "very specific direction" on every matter which he would have been barred from speaking about due to court orders.
However the session could still be rearranged, with the former SNP leader's lawyers suggesting that he could resubmit some of his evidence in light of the Spectator case.
The committee put off the planned appearance of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on Tuesday to discuss this, and is to have a further meeting on Wednesday to examine Lady Dorrian's written reasons.
The group only has weeks left to complete its work and compile a report before Holyrood breaks up ahead of May's election.