A PETITION to overturn the election result of former Secretary of State for Scotland Alistair Carmichael will be heard in Edinburgh in September.
The specially convened Election Court will sit on Monday, September 7, and Tuesday, September 8, in the Court of Session and be heard by Lady Paton and Lord Matthews.
Carmichael faces the court after he admitted lying about leaking a Scotland Office document during the election campaign.
The document alleged that First Minister Nicola Sturgeon had told the French Ambassador she would rather have David Cameron as Prime Minister rather than Ed Miliband.
The allegation, contained in the minute of a third-hand account of the conversation, was flatly denied by both the First Minister and the Ambassador.
Investigating the leak, Sir Jeremy Heywood, the country’s most senior civil servant, discovered Carmichael and his special adviser Euan Roddin had been responsible. The MP confessed to the leak after May’s General Election.
The resulting anger from constituents saw a crowdfunding appeal raise more than £60,000 to mount a legal challenge.
The petitioners believe Carmichael’s re-election contravened the Representation of the People Act 1983 as, when asked during the election campaign if he was responsible for the leak, he lied and said he was not.
Under Section 106 of the Act it is a criminal offence to release a “false statement” about the character and conduct of a candidate. Professor James Chalmers, Regius Professor of Law at the University of Glasgow said the trial would likely be heavy on technical detail: “September’s election court is likely to deal in law rather than fact.
“The facts of what happened don’t seem to be in much if any dispute. The question is whether those facts are enough to trigger the legal rules allowing the court to declare Alistair Carmichael’s election void. We can expect dry and technical legal argument rather than fireworks from the witness box.
“The judges may have to take time afterwards to consider their decision rather than announcing it there and then, but everyone involved will be keen to resolve this as quickly as possible.”
The Orkney and Shetlands MP was the only Scottish Liberal Democrat to keep his seat at the General Election. His majority of 10,000 dropped down to 817.
Proceedings could be broadcast live. The court is considering this with a further hearing due to take place on August 31 to finalise any arrangements.
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