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Multi dimensional stuff, this Cadder ruling.

As the justice secretary notes: "It overturns decades of criminal procedure in Scotland."

Good thing too, some will say, arguing that it is wrong for police interviews to be conducted in the absence of a solicitor.

Kenny MacAskill, unsurprisingly, is - especially its implicit claim that there is something inherently unfair at the core of Scottish justice.

The minister insists that, to the contrary, the Scots legal system is "proud and distinctive" and, further, is "predicated on fairness with many rigorous protections for accused persons."

In essence, Mr MacAskill, himself a lawyer, is seeking three remedies.

One, he will seek Holyrood's support in rushing through emergency legislation to prevent the scope of the ruling extending further through other cases emerging.

Examining options

Scottish government insiders are at pains to argue that "emergency" does not mean ill-considered.

They insist that they have been examining options for months.

That will not, however, preclude complaints from some, notably the Liberal Democrats, to the effect that the consideration by parliament will be hasty.

Which brings us to the third strand of the MacAskill package.

He is writing to Ken Clarke, the justice secretary at Westminster, drawing attention to an "anomaly" in devolution.

This is that the European Convention on Human Rights is an intrinsic part of Scots Law, being incorporated via the Scotland Act which established a Scottish Parliament in the first place.

This apparently drives the need for emergency legislation - rather than consideration over, say, three months.

The Scottish system is in breach of its own law rather than an extrinsic code.

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