William Burns Petition PE685 to the Scottish Parliament
100-Year Closure Order - Cullen Inquiry

[Ed. ~ This further petition was submitted six days after the hearing of Petition PE652.LINK It was submitted without delay because I had a queasy feeling PE652 would be "buried" without the Public Petitions Committee (PPC) considering its requests. That is exactly what happened. They "listened" to it but did not "consider" it. This petition, PE685, was similarly "buried" without consideration after the petitioner was refused permission to make an oral presentation to the Committee. At the conclusion, the PPC merely "noted" the content of the petitioner's submissions but did not address them. Information received from me in my petitions and in my oral submissions in PE652, and subsequently from other sources, would put the members of the PPC to shame.LINK]

I, the undersigned, declare that the decision to impose a 100-year closure order on the Petitioner’s correspondence with the Cullen Inquiry into the Dunblane massacre, filed at COM21/4/105/1-2 with the National Archives of Scotland, was indefensible, an impediment to natural justice, and contrary to the public interest, and which, according to the Crown Office itself, “has no statutory basis for such closure orders in Scotland”, and as such was imposed according to no law. (See the submitted documents in relation to PE652 of 10 and 26 June 2003.LINK)

Brief Synopsis

Since I did not request the Scottish Parliament to enact legislation in my earlier petition PE652 to prevent legal mechanics and other furtive operatives in the civil service from arranging “Gagging Orders” on files that are either embarrassing or incriminating to themselves rather than damaging to any member or members of the public, I would like to take the opportunity now to request the Parliament to enact the appropriate legislation.
Members of the Public Petitions Committee must be made cognisant of the inevitability that, in the not too distant future, history will be recording their important involvement in this and subsequent petitions as the truth about the Cullen Inquiry is brought to light, so I hope they search their minds and souls impartially before taking any decision, lest it returns to haunt them. [Ed. ~ It has certainly done that.LINK]

The Petitioner, therefore, requests that the Scottish Parliament takes the necessary steps to:

enact legislation that clearly and accurately defines what files can and cannot be put on closure orders, so that the public can decide if it is: in the national interest; the public interest; to safeguard an individual or a number of individuals’ human rights; or if it is to safeguard the vested interests of the authors of the whitewashes; and
enact legislation that clearly and accurately defines the maximum time limits imposed on said closure orders.

William Burns
18 Shore Road
South Queensferry
Scotland
EH30 9SG

Signed: _________________________

Date: 4 November 2003