The Herald today publishes a letter from Christopher Frew in response to the letter from Dr Jim Swire published yesterday. It reads:
"Further to Dr Jim Swire's detailed and dignified letter (June 2) on the Lockerbie appeal, there is one aspect which I think invites re-examination.
That is the Public Interest Immunity (PII) certificate signed by the Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, who has said that disclosing the two confidential documents would cause 'real harm' to national security.
The role of PII certificates in court proceedings seems to straddle uneasily the pillars of the judicial and the political structures. May I suggest merely that we keep in mind two precedents: first, the scathing comments by the judiciary on the blocking of the BAE inquiry, where political expedience was allowed to take precedence over due process; and, secondly, the case of the Matrix Churchill prosecutions, where four ministers (Clarke, Rifkind, Garel-Jones for Hurd and Heseltine) signed PII certificates.
Michael Heseltine, to his credit, made his reservations clear, both to officials and in the wording particular to his PII. The whole affair can be studied in various books, notably Truth Is A Difficult Concept: Inside the Scott Inquiry, by Richard Norton Taylor (Guardian Books, 1995).
An illuminating quote as to the government view comes in that case from an assistant Treasury solicitor, Andrew Leithead: 'It is damaging to the public interest to have any decision-making process expanded.'
Let us hope the judges have a more enlightened view as to the public interest."
The comments from members of the public that follow the letter are also worth reading.
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