MSPs demand release of Salmond case legal advice
- Published
Mr Salmond successfully challenged the internal investigation of two harassment complaints
MSPs have voted to demand the Scottish government release its legal advice from the court battle with Alex Salmond over a botched harassment probe.
A Holyrood committee is examining how the former first minister successfully challenged the internal investigation.
However ministers have refused to hand over some documents, saying it is an "important principle" that advice from lawyers should remain confidential.
Opposition parties united to vote by 63 to 54 to demand the advice is released.
The vote at Holyrood is not binding on the Scottish government, although it will increase pressure on ministers to abide by the will of parliament.
Deputy First Minister John Swinney said ministers "always seek to respect the decisions of parliament" and would "consider the implications" of the vote.
Tory MSP and inquiry committee member Murdo Fraser said it would be "unforgivable" if the government did not now "produce the missing documentation as a matter of urgency".
He said this was needed in order to "fulfil all the promises by the first minister to be open and cooperative with this inquiry".
Mr Fraser also argued that there was an "overwhelming public interest" in making the documents public, and said it was "essential" to the work of the inquiry committee.
The Scottish government conceded defeat on the eve of a judicial review hearing called by Mr Salmond in January 2018, accepting that the way a newly-established complaints procedure had been applied had been "unlawful".
It has published thousands of pages of evidence about the process leading up to the judicial review, and the procedural failures which ultimately saw Mr Salmond awarded £500,000 in expenses.
However ministers have argued throughout that they should not have to release advice from lawyers, saying this is an "important and well established legal principle".
Mr Swinney said "confidential communications with lawyers" were not routinely released.
He said disclosing the papers would undermine the ability of the government to seek free and frank legal advice in future, saying there would be a fear that it might be published.
And he said that maintaining legal privilege that not prevented the government from providing thousands of pages of material or civil servants from giving 14 hours of evidence in person so far.
MSPs voted by 63 to 54 to demand the legal advice be released
Committee member Jackie Baillie said that there had been a "lack of cooperation" from the government, who she accused of "obstructing" the inquiry.
The Labour MSP added: "Understanding the legal advice given to the Scottish government is key to understanding whether they pursued the judicial review appropriately, or if they wasted half a million pounds of public money."
Green MSP Andy Wightman said legal advice could be published "if the public interest requires it".
And Alex Cole-Hamilton of the Liberal Democrats said: "The government has clung to legal privilege so hard that the inescapable conclusion of any dispassionate observer must be that there must be some reason why they don't want us to see it."
The committee's inquiry is due to continue through much of the remaining parliamentary term, with both Mr Salmond and Ms Sturgeon expected to give evidence in person later this year.
The probe was put on hold during the former first minister's criminal trial, which saw him cleared of 13 charges of sexual assault in March.