• First Minister Nicola Sturgeon: "It is important the Scottish public know that, in the opinion of someone independent, I did not breach the ministerial code. I am delighted and relieved about that."
• Scottish Conservatives leader Douglas Ross: "Nicola Sturgeon did not suddenly turn forgetful. She is not free and clear. The first minister promised to ‘respect the decisions’ of both inquiry reports, not to pick and choose which one suits her and try to discredit the other."
• Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar: "This entire process has deeply damaged public trust in our politics at a time of national crisis, and there are absolutely no winners today."
• Scottish Greens leader Patrick Harvie: "Mr Hamilton has clearly concluded that the first minister did not breach the ministerial code, so we will not support the vote of no confidence being pushed by the Tories."
• Scottish Liberal Democrats leader Willie Rennie: “The judgement from James Hamilton does not make the first minister’s resignation automatic but no-one can deny that her errors of judgement still make resignation a live consideration."

That concludes our live coverage of the publication of James Hamilton's report, which concluded that Nicola Sturgeon did not breach the ministerial code.

We'll be back with more live coverage in the morning, when a Holyrood committee will publish the report on its inquiry into the Scottish government's handling of the allegations against Alex Salmond.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, Getty Images

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie says Nicola Sturgeon should still be considering her political future.

He says that the judgement from James Hamilton does not make the first minister’s resignation automatic, but that "no-one can deny that her errors of judgement still make resignation a live consideration.

“James Hamilton does not give the first minister a clean bill of health."

Mr Rennie says it is up to parliament to determine whether it has been misled over the meeting between Ms Sturgeon and Mr Salmond in her home in April 2018.

But he adds: “Even the most ardent SNP supporter must recognise that the women involved were let down by the government and that half a million pounds was wasted defending the indefensible in court."

The report examines allegations that Nicola Sturgeon had failed to record a series of meetings and telephone discussions with Alex Salmond and others in 2018.

James Hamilton concluded that the meetings were government business - contrary to Ms Sturgeon's claims that they were a party matter.

But he accepted her reasoning that "it would have been impossible to record such meetings or discussions without a risk of prejudicing the proceedings or interfering with their confidentiality".

The report also notes that by July 2018, Ms Sturgeon's relationship with Mr Salmond was breaking down.

"In her opinion he was clearly upset and angry that she was not assisting him to achieve the outcome he wanted," writes Mr Hamilton.

"The first minister states that she was also upset with him. She says that the nature of the complaints against him and the account he had given her of one of them had badly shaken her faith in him.

"She states, however, that in spite of that she did not want their relationship to break down completely. He had been her friend and colleague for 30 years."

BBC Radio Scotland

Sir John Curtice, professor of politics at Strathclyde University, says it is clear from a number of recent polls that the "court of public opinion" had already decided for the most part that they preferred Ms Sturgeon’s account of what happened to Mr Salmond’s version of events.

Professor Curtice told BBC Scotland's Drivetime programme that 70%-80% of people who voted for the SNP in the past believe what Ms Sturgeon has been saying, and that today's report may help assuage any doubts the remainder had about voting SNP again.

But he says that a large proportion of Conservative supporters – around two-thirds - think Mr Salmond was telling the truth

Prof Curtice believes the SNP have suffered some damage from the Salmond-Sturgeon row, and that it is "not entirely clear" if the party has enough votes to secure an overall majority at the Scottish Parliament election in May.

The opposition parties had hoped to make her leadership a central feature during the election campaign, he adds.

Image source, Reuters

Nicola Sturgeon told BBC Scotland she is "very pleased" that James Hamilton's report concluded she did not breach the ministerial code.

"I have always been of that view, but it is important the Scottish public know that, in the opinion of someone independent, I did not breach the ministerial code," she said.

"I am delighted and relieved about that. Some pretty grim allegations have been levelled at me over the past months."

The first minister said she was "at peace with my own conscience" and had been clear in her own mind that she acted appropriately.

The first minister said she would look forward to the publication tomorrow morning of a second report, from an inquiry carried out by a Holyrood committee. It is expected to conclude that Ms Sturgeon misled the committee in her evidence about meetings with Alex Salmond.

An independent inquiry into the first minister's conduct has been published. Here are the main points:

• Nicola Sturgeon has been cleared of breaking conduct rules over an investigation into complaints against Alex Salmond.
• Irish lawyer James Hamilton looked into whether the first minister misled parliament when she forgot to inform MSPs about a key meeting. He said it was a "genuine failure of recollection" and not deliberate.
• He also clears the first minister of three further allegations, including whether she tried to influence the investigation into Alex Salmond, failed to record meetings, and complied with the law.
• The first minister welcomes the findings and says she had "sought at every stage in this issue to act with integrity and in the public interest".
• A vote of no confidence in Nicola Sturgeon set for Wednesday now looks certain to fail as the Scottish Greens – who hold the balance of power – say they will not back it.

Image source, Getty Images

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross says the first minister is “not free and clear” despite the conclusion of the Hamilton report.

“The first minister has been given a pass because it has been judged her 'failure of recollection' was 'not deliberate'," he says.

“I respect Mr Hamilton and his judgement but we cannot agree with that assessment. Nicola Sturgeon did not suddenly turn forgetful.

“She is not free and clear. The first minister promised to ‘respect the decisions’ of both inquiry reports, not to pick and choose which one suits her and try to discredit the other."

Mr Ross claims the SNP is "running scared" of the Holyrood committee's findings, which will be published on Tuesday, and accuses the party of accelerating the vote of no confidence in Nicola Sturgeon to avoid MSPs scrutinising that report.

Nick Eardley
Political correspondent

James Hamilton's conclusions are undoubtedly a significant boost for the first minister and her party.

In two days, the starting gun will be fired on the Scottish election campaign. Ms Sturgeon will go into it saying her independent advisor cleared her. Her team see it as “complete vindication”.

Remember there is another report to be published tomorrow morning, by the Holyrood committee. We know a majority of the committee believe Ms Sturgeon misled them in her evidence – so the issue of trust will no doubt continue to be part of the election campaign.

But Team Sturgeon is very happy tonight, going into an election campaign which could prove very important in determining whether there is another independence referendum.

In his report, James Hamilton concludes there is "no evidence whatsoever" that the first minister acted improperly or in breach of the ministerial code over Mr Salmond’s petition for a judicial review.

He adds: "The evidence suggests that the key legal decisions were taken by the law officers."

Mr Salmond had claimed that the Scottish government broke its own rules by continuing to contest his case for as long as it did, while Ms Sturgeon said she had followed the advice of law officers.

On the Scottish government's handling of the judicial review proceedings, Mr Hamilton adds:

Image source, Scottish Parliament

Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said his party would not support the Conservatives' vote of no confidence in the first minister.

“In lodging a vote of no confidence before this report was published, just as they called for the first minister's resignation before she even gave evidence to the parliamentary committee, the Tories have shown that they have no interest in establishing the truth," he said.

Mr Harvie said James Hamilton had clearly concluded that Nicola Sturgeon did not breach the ministerial code.

He said the independent report "retains credibility in this process, unlike the parliamentary committee which has repeatedly sabotaged its own authority and betrayed the trust of original complainers".

Image source, Reuters

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said his party had been clear that it would not prejudge the outcome of the inquiry, and would now await the findings of the parliamentary committee.

“What is clear is that this entire process has deeply damaged public trust in our politics at a time of national crisis, and there are absolutely no winners today," he said.

“At the heart of this are two women who have been badly let down by the government, and it remains the case that nobody has taken responsibility.

“There are still questions of judgement and an urgent need to restore trust, confidence and transparency in our institutions.”

James Hamilton's report examines the meeting on 2 April 2018 where Alex Salmond told Nicola Sturgeon that he was being investigated.

Mr Salmond claims Ms Sturgeon suggested that she would intervene in favour of mediation, but later changed her mind. The first minister has insisted this is not the case, but that she may have been "too gentle" in trying to let down "an old friend".

In his report, Mr Hamilton concludes that Ms Sturgeon did not intervene, and that her failure to do so has been a "constant source of complaint" from Mr Salmond.

Image source, PA Media

The independent inquiry by James Hamilton had been examining whether the first minister misled parliament over what she knew and when.

Ms Sturgeon insisted she had first learned of the complaints from Alex Salmond at her home on 2 April 2018, but later said she had had "forgotten" about a meeting with his former chief of staff four days earlier.

Mr Hamilton said it was "regrettable" that Ms Sturgeon had not told MSPs about this meeting, but that he found it "difficult to think of any convincing reason" for her to deliberately conceal it.

He said she had given parliament "an incomplete narrative of events", but added: "I accept that this omission was the result of a genuine failure of recollection and was not deliberate."

Mr Hamilton said he was therefore of the opinion that Ms Sturgeon had not breached any of the provisions of the code, which sets out the standards expected of government ministers. It states that anyone who deliberately misleads parliament would be expected to resign.

Nick Eardley
Political correspondent

Sources close to Ms Sturgeon think this is a complete vindication for her.

They are going to use it to argue to the Scottish electorate, ahead of the Scottish Parliament elections coming up, that she did nothing wrong, and that some of the accusations that have been flying around recently - most notably from Alex Salmond - are not true and were not accurate.

They will argue that the attacks on her in the last few weeks have been political.

Nicola Sturgeon said she wanted to apologise again to the women at the heart of the case, who had been "let down" by the Scottish government’s handling of their complaints.

“I was determined, however, at the time these complaints emerged that they should not be swept under the carpet, and that I would not intervene in the process," she said.

"Had I done so, as requested by Alex Salmond, it would – as Mr Hamilton observes – ‘undoubtedly have been seen as a partisan and political interference’ which ‘would undoubtedly have undermined public confidence in the processes of government to a much greater extent than in fact eventually happened’."

Ms Sturgeon added that James Hamilton had applied himself to his task with "rigour and diligence".

"Mr Hamilton is an internationally renowned legal professional with impeccable credentials and no-one should seek to suggest or imply that he has acted anything other than independently and utterly without fear or favour," she added.

Image source, Reuters

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon welcomed the conclusions of James Hamilton’s investigation, which she described as "comprehensive, evidence-based and unequivocal".

“Mr Hamilton has considered all of the allegations against me, and I am happy that his report’s findings clear me of any breach of the ministerial code.

“I sought at every stage in this issue to act with integrity and in the public interest. As I have previously made clear, I did not consider that I had broken the code, but these findings are official, definitive and independent adjudication of that.

“Prior to its publication, opposition politicians stressed the importance of respecting and accepting the outcome of Mr Hamilton’s independent inquiry, and I committed wholeheartedly to doing so. Now that he has reported, it is incumbent on them to do likewise."

The report by senior Irish lawyer James Hamilton was formally commissioned by Deputy First Minister John Swinney, who said the "rigour and independence" of his investigation was "clear".

"I hope that everyone will now accept that Mr Hamilton’s conclusions are comprehensive and evidence-based," said Mr Swinney.

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In the conclusion of his 61-page report, James Hamilton said he had examined four alleged breaches of the ministerial code by Nicola Sturgeon.

1. The allegation that her failure to record meetings and telephone discussions with Alex Salmond and others in March, April, June and July 2018 amounted to a breach of of the Ministerial Code.

2. The allegation that the first minister may have attempted to influence the conduct of the investigation then being undertaken by the permanent secretary into allegations made against Mr Salmond under the Procedure for Handling of Harassment Complaints involving Current or Former Ministers.

3. The allegation that the first minister misled the Scottish Parliament in relation to her meetings.

4. The allegation that the first minister was in breach of her duty to comply with the law in respect of the Scottish government’s response to the petition of Mr Salmond for a judicial review.

He concluded:

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon did not breach the ministerial code, according to an independent inquiry by Ireland's former chief prosecutor, James Hamilton.