Aamer Anwar

Mr Megrahi was convicted on 31 January 2001 for the murders of the 243 passengers and the 16 crew on board Pan Am Flight 103 from London to New York, and 11 residents of Lockerbie, on 21 December 1988.

The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) referred the case in March after finding a possible miscarriage of justice could have occurred.

It referred the case on the basis, among other things, that Mr Megrahi may have been denied a fair trial given the Crown’s failure to disclose information about the award money to be given to Anthony Gauci – who sold Mr Megrahi most of the items in the bomb suitcase – by the US Department of State.

Solicitor Aamer Anwar, who made the application on behalf of Megrahi’s family, said the application has been made on substantial grounds.

“We have now formally lodged with the High Court of Justiciary the appeal grounds in the posthumous appeal on behalf of the late al-Megrahi,” Mr Anwar said.

“The reputation of the Scottish law has suffered both at home and internationally because of widespread doubts about the conviction of Mr al-Megrahi. It is in the interests of justice and restoring confidence in our criminal justice system that these doubts can be addressed. However, the only place to determine whether a miscarriage of justice did occur is in the appeal court, where the evidence can be subjected to rigorous scrutiny.”

Megrahi’s son, Ali al-Megrahi, said: “The family of my late father, Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi and I wish to extend gratitude to our lawyer Aamer Anwar for the great efforts he has made in bringing this case to the appeal court and for the dedication of his legal team. “We hope from God Almighty that success will be your ally in all your steps and that you will continue along this path.

“The legal team has made great efforts and is still making in exposing the unfair trial that my father was subjected to and continues to face despite his death.”