(311)  SUPREME COURT: THE PARLIAMENT DEBATE

On 29 January 2004 the Scottish Parliament debated the proposals for a UK Supreme Court replacing the present House of Lords and the devolution jurisdiction of the Privy Council.  Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson defended the proposals as part of a modernisation agenda in the legal system, replacing outmoded laws and practices, and focusing on appropriate separation of powers in government.  The role of non-Scots judges for which the present and proposed systems provide was valuable in preventing insularity in the legal system.  Moreover large areas of civil law were the same as or similar to English law, while criminal law was fundamentally different; hence there was no need to provide for criminal appeals to the new court.  The Claim of Right and the Treaty of Union were not really relevant to the 21st century and a modern