Meeting of 6 October 2009

The Committee yesterday took oral evidence from Julie Love and Dr Kenneth Faulds on petition PE1280 which calls for a Fatal Accident Inquiry to be held when a person from Scotland dies abroad. Julie's own son Colin died while swimming on holiday in Venezuela. The way it is at the moment, if an English civilian has a sudden or unexpected death abroad, this will automatically trigger a coroner's inquiry upon the return of the corpse (this is in addition to any inquiry that may have taken place in the country in which the person died). This is very important to determine the cause of the death, the circumstances and to make recommendations to try to prevent future similar accidents. However, the same does not apply if a person from Scotland dies abroad even if there are suspicious circumstances. Here are some pictures from the petitioners taken during the meeting.
The Committee also heard from Kenny MacAskill (Cabinet Secretary for Justice) and Tam Baillie (new Commissioner for Children and Young People)on petition PE1169 on the display of magazines with sexual content. Again, here are a few pics.
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PPC clerks