This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
Listen
Statement by Jim Wallace QC MP, MSP Minister for Justice
04/08/1999
"I would like to clarify the position regarding the background to the Noel Ruddle case, a patient at the State Hospital, Carstairs, who was given an absolute discharge earlier this week.
"I would like to make two things crystal clear:
"Ministers did attempt to prevent the release of Noel Ruddle but the Court decided that he should go free.
"There are not 15 other cases waiting for appeal and this judgement does not mean an early release for any other patients.
"Ministers cannot overturn the judgements of the courts just because they don't like them. The judgement was a very detailed one by an experienced sheriff. It was considered very carefully by counsel and legal advice given on its implications. As a result Ministers concluded that an application for judicial review would not have delayed or prevented Mr Ruddle's release.
"The problem here is not with the judgement, it is with the law itself. The point of law on which the Ruddle case turned was whether his condition was treatable. Mr Ruddle could not be detained because his condition was found to be untreatable.
"And despite what either The Scotsman or Mr Ruddle's solicitor think, he therefore could not have been 'sectioned', since those powers are to detain a person to receive treatment for a mental disorder.
"I would also like to make it clear that the law relating to new cases of this kind has already been changed so that courts have a disposal (the hospital direction) which allows treatment for mental disorder to be combined with a prison sentence. Mental health legislation is now being further examined by the Maclean Committee. The First Minister has written to Lord Maclean, and I spoke to him today, asking him if his Committee can accelerate its work, and they are considering what further steps may be necessary in order to safeguard the public.
"We are talking here about cases where serious crimes have been committed by people who suffer from personality disorders. The law has to address the needs of individuals and the wider public interest. There are two points I would like to make, rising out of the Ruddle case.
"First, I am not satisfied that at present the court has sufficient powers in considering these cases to take full account of public safety. That has to be paramount.
"Second, I am not satisfied that in dealing with these matters the courts currently have sufficient powers to ensure that plans following discharge both meet the needs of the individual and satisfy the legitimate concerns of the community.
"I have therefore instructed my officials to consider urgently what further steps need to be taken to address these concerns. We will, of course, keep closely in touch with Lord Maclean as we take the work forward.
"As far as any further cases are concerned it remains the fact that no two are alike and each is considered on its merits. This judgement is very detailed and deals very specifically with Mr Ruddle's case. It will be for the courts to determine whether the very specific terms of the Ruddle judgement would apply in any future appeal. There is a handful of cases which have some similar characteristics. None of them is currently the subject of an appeal, but Ministers continue to monitor them closely.
"Earlier today I spoke to the Opposition Parties about the steps which the Executive is taking and Iain Gray and I have been keeping in daily contact with the First Minister."
News Release: SE0229/99
4 August, 1999