Minister to give further thought to register of judges' interests

The new Minister for Legal Affairs has told MSPs that he will give further consideration to whether to introduce a register of financial interests for Scotland's judges.

Appearing before Holyrood's Public Petitions Committee yesterday, Paul Wheelhouse recognised public concerns over the secrecy surrounding the judiciary, but said that any register would have to include safeguards to protect judges from intimidation or hostile press action. 

Roseanna Cunningham, Mr Wheelhouse's predecessor as minister, was not convinced of the need for a register, and its introduction has been resisted by the Lord President, Lord Gill, who has said that the judicial oath, along with the now published list of judicial recusals – occasions where a judge has declined to sit because of some personal connection with a case – provide sufficient safeguards.

Mr Wheelhouse undertook to seek further assurances from Lord Gill over the robustness of the present system, but in response to a question said he could not give "a 100% guarantee that every judge will always recuse themselves appropriately".

A number of MSPs on the committee believe there is no strong argument against a US-style register, though former Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, who now sits on the committee, said it had led to some judicial candidates being "pilloried".