Where the prosecution had delayed nearly four years between interview and charge, that delay was so unreasonable as to render a continuation of the prosecution a breach of the defendant’s human rights to a fair trial. The period to be considered not when the police first heard of the allegation and began to investigate, but the substitution of formal proceedings. The convention gave him the right to a fair trial within a reasonable time. The prosecution could have proceeded several years earlier.
Citations:
Times 14-Apr-2000
Statutes:
Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995
Scotland, Criminal Practice, Human Rights
Updated: 09 April 2022; Ref: scu.85309
