The man who will chair a panel of top lawyers to probe the UK Supreme Court’s role in Scottish justice is well-known in Scottish media circles.
Former Solicitor General, Lord McCluskey, will ensure the review group presents its initial findings to Holyrood before the summer recess.
Lord McCluskey was , for a number of years, chair of the judges for the Scottish Press Awards, and is much liked and admired by media folk for his affability, inquiring mind and erudite conversations at the dinner table.
The other members of the Scottish Government-appointed panel are: Sir Gerald Gordon, an expert in Scots criminal law; Charles Stoddart, a former sheriff, sheriff principal and director of judicial studies; and Professor Neil Walker, a leading academic in constitutional law at the Edinburgh School of Law.
The move by First Minister, Alex Salmond, comes after London-based judges on the UK Supreme Court (but with Scotland-born representation through Lord Hope and Lord Rodger) backed Nat Fraser’s bid to overturn his conviction for murdering his wife, Arlene.
Fraser is still in custody awaiting a Court of Appeal decision in Scotland on whether he will stand trial again for killing Arlene, 33, in 1998.
