Send for a Scots lawyer again

That oft-repeated solution to a problem – send for a Scots lawyer – came into its own once again on 22 August 2008, with the appointment of Lord Bonomy to take over as a judge in the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in the preparations for The Hague trial of Radovan Karadzic.

Karadzic, who was brought before the tribunal following his arrest earlier in the month, complained that the Dutch judge initially assigned to his case had an anti-Serb bias, and the tribunal president, Fausto Pocar, then moved to bring in Lord Bonomy. 

It is not the first time Lord Bonomy has been called upon to sit in the tribunal.  He took part in the trial of Slobodan Milosevic, which was aborted when the accused died in 2006.  See No 349.

For other previous occasions of this practice of sending for a Scots lawyer in times of need, see Nos 342, 454 and 707.  It is possibly worth noting in this context that Alistair Darling, advocate, is now Chancellor of the Exchequer.  Surely there could be no greater reassurance that we will eventually get out of the credit crunch.  Maybe.