Scottish Government Held in Contempt Over Salmond Files Disclosure
The commissioner said ministers failed to comply with an information ruling, and the court ordered the government to pay about £10,000 in costs.
- On Wednesday, the Court of Session found the Scottish Government in contempt for deliberately delaying publication of the so-called Salmond files following a long-running freedom of information dispute.
- Judge Lady Poole ruled the government 'deliberately failed' to begin redacting documents until after Christmas, despite an order issued on December 1 last year, showing 'lack of respect' for Scottish Information Commissioner David Hamilton.
- Hamilton welcomed the ruling, the first time in more than 20 years an Information Commissioner has referred non-compliance to court; the government faces admonishment and must pay legal expenses estimated at around £10,000.
- Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie called the ruling a 'bombshell,' claiming the SNP government is 'mired in sleaze,' while a government spokesperson said they will 'consider it in detail.'
- The files relate to the Hamilton Inquiry into whether former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon breached the ministerial code over her handling of complaints against her late predecessor, Alex Salmond, who died in 2024.
17 Articles
17 Articles
Secretive SNP broke the law by withholding Nicola Sturgeon probe documents
It's been a disastrous fortnight for John Swinney and now his SNP Executive has broken contempt of court laws by failing to publish documents relating to whether Nicola Sturgeon breached the ministerial code during the Alex Salmond Inquiry.
Scottish Government found in contempt of court over delayed document disclosures
A judge has ruled this week that the government ‘deliberately failed to comply’ with instructions given by the national information commissioner to publish certain files related to a previous propriety inquiry The Scottish Government has been found in contempt of court for failing to publish information it was ordered to disclose by the national data and privacy watchdog. The Scottish Information Commissioner had set a mid-January deadline for m…
Scottish government guilty of contempt over Salmond files
Court rules that failure to comply with FOI decision timescale was contempt of court The Court of Session has issued a ruling which finds that the Scottish Ministers’ failure to comply with the compliance timescale set out in a December FOI Decision amounted to a contempt of court. The Decision – Decision 281/2025 – concerned a request for communications and information relating to the James Hamilton Report and published legal advice. In the De…
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