James Hamilton is expected to publish his ruling on allegations Nicola Sturgeon misled the Scottish parliament about her Government's unlawful sexual misconduct probe into Alex Salmond.
A former Director of Public Prosecutions in Ireland, Hamilton was appointed as an independent adviser to the Scottish Government’s Ministerial Code in 2013.
The Scottish Government established the system for the first time in 2008 to enable the First Minister to refer complaints made under the ethics code.
Salmond, when he was First Minister, had six complaints referred to the independent panel, all of which were dismissed.
At the time of Hamilton’s appointment Salmond, at the point FM, said: “This administration introduced independent advisers into the Ministerial Code for the first time in 2008 and their advice over that time has been highly valued.
“I am delighted to welcome James Hamilton as a new independent adviser, ensuring the continuation of the robust and transparent procedures that we have within Scotland’s system of government.”
Hamilton was reappointed by Sturgeon in 2015 and he has undertaken this inquiry into whether she broke the code alone after another adviser, Elish Angiolini, withdrew.
A qualified barrister, he served as Director of Public Prosecutions from 1999 to 2011 until he took early retirement.
He also served as president of the International Association of Prosecutors, based in The Hague, until 2013 when he was recruited by the Scottish Government.
In 2017, he was asked by the Welsh government to investigate if its first minister Carwyn Jones had lied to the Welsh Assembly about allegations of bullying within government.
Hamilton cleared Jones of breaching the ministerial code and said his account to the Assembly was “accurate and truthful, and not misleading”.
Now Hamilton will have to decide if Sturgeon broke the Scottish ministerial code in relation to meetings she had with Salmond in 2018 during the live probe.
In 2018, the Government investigated complaints by two women from when Salmond was FM.
He pursued a judicial review and it was accepted the Government probe had been unlawful and tainted by apparent bias.
Sturgeon denies breaching the code and said she referred herself to Hamilton to assure “parliament and the wider public of this”.
With Sturgeon’s political career in the balance, his words and his judgement are eagerly anticipated by the First Minister's friends and enemies.
