Carloway: Foreign judge for Rangers inquiry implies ‘corruption’ of Scottish judiciary

Lord Carloway

Speaking to STV News, the judge said that an inquiry, which was was promised more than three years ago but has not yet begun, could probably only go ahead if another ongoing inquiry comes to an end.

He said: “At the moment we’ve got quite a few inquiries on the go. And the question is, can we actually staff another inquiry? Is the legal profession capable of doing that? Probably if one or two of them come to an end.”

He also said a Scottish judge should lead any inquiry.

“If we’re talking about examining things that have happened in Scotland, my view is unless somebody is accusing the judicial system of some kind of corruption, or some other conduct, then it has to be a Scottish judge.

“And the reason for that is if a Scottish judge is bypassed then that is a direct criticism of the independence of the judiciary in Scotland. The Scottish government have got statutory duty to uphold the independence of the Scottish judiciary and rightly so.”

The scandal has seen over £60 million paid out to the victims of the Crown Office. The lord advocate at the time was Frank Mulholland, now Lord Mulholland.