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SCCRC Scottish Criminal Cases
Review Commission


NEWS RELEASE

2020-03-11


Application on behalf of Mr Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi

The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (the Commission) has today again referred the case of the late Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi to the High Court of Justiciary for determination.

As a result of the Commission's decision, Mr Megrahi's family is now entitled to instruct an appeal against his conviction on 2001-01-31 for the murders of the 243 passengers and the 16 crew on board Pan Am Flight 103 (PA 103) from London to New York, and 11 residents of Lockerbie, on 1988-12-21 .

The Commission has sent a statement of reasons for its decision to the High Court. It has sent a copy of the document to Messrs Aamer Anwar & Co (whom the Megrahi family have instructed), the Lord Advocate and the Crown Agent.

The Commission is not, by law, permitted to provide members of the public with copies of its statement of reasons.

However, given the continuing worldwide interest in this case, which sits uniquely within the criminal justice system in Scotland, the Commission has decided to provide a fuller news release than normal by setting out a summary of the case history and providing brief details of the application made to it, the trial court's findings and the Commission's conclusions

Announcing the decision today, the Chairman of the Commission, Bill Matthews, said:

'We recognise that the Commission plays an important role in the Scottish criminal justice system and has extensive statutory powers to enable it to carry out its duties.

This is the second time that the Commission has carried out what I believe has been a rigorous and independent review of this particular conviction, and we note that since our last review further information has become available, including within the public domain, which the Commission has now been able to consider and assess.

As the Chair of the SCCRC in 2007 said when the case was originally referred, our function is not to decide upon the guilt or innocence of an applicant.

Our function is to examine the grounds of review identified and to decide whether any of the grounds meet the statutory test for a potential miscarriage.