255.Paragraph 3(1) provides that a person is disqualified from being appointed a relevant office-holder if the person, at the time of being appointed or in the year preceding the appointment, has held any of the roles set out in this paragraph. This helps to ensure that the person is sufficiently independent, particularly from the bodies which might be involved in the review or which will already have sufficient representation on the committee from the appointments made from the nominations made by nominating bodies. These disqualification criteria continue to apply during a relevant office-holder’s time in office (see paragraph 5(b) of the schedule).
256.Paragraph 3(2) imposes further restrictions upon who can be appointed as a relevant office-holder, although these restrictions are not automatic in the same way as those in paragraph 3(1) are. When the Scottish Ministers are appointing relevant office-holders, they are required to have regard to the fact that it is desirable for the person not to be, or in the year preceding the appointment have been, a member, employee or appointee of an organisation which Ministers consider to be a victim-support organisation (which is not limited to victims of abusive domestic behaviour), or involved in the oversight of services in relation to victims of abusive domestic behaviour. An organisation might be considered to have “oversight” of services where it provides grant-funding which is subject to conditions and checks (either statutory or contractual), and the organisation essentially “polices” the work carried out. An appointee of an organisation is someone who is, for example, appointed by the organisation to represent it on some external forum or as one of its committee members, etc.
257.As with paragraph 3(1), this helps to ensure that the person is sufficiently independent, particularly from the bodies which might be involved in the review or which will already have sufficient representation on the committee from the appointments made from the nominations made by nominating bodies. However, there is no automatic disqualification here, as it will be for Ministers to consider what the organisation does, and the person’s role in it, before deciding if it should be disqualifying. For example, someone who has been involved as an auditor of an organisation may have no particular allegiance to it, and some organisations may provide services which are only peripherally about victims. Again, these criteria can be applied in a continuing way during a relevant office-holder’s time in office (see paragraph 5(c)(ii) of the schedule and the commentary on it at paragraph 264 of these Notes).
258.While this paragraph sets out the disqualification criteria which are unique to relevant office-holders, it should be noted that section 15(4) also provides that an individual may not be appointed to be a member of a case review panel if the individual is, or within the 3 years preceding the appointment has been, a member of the review oversight committee. This applies to chairs of case review panels just as it applies to ordinary members of case review panels.
259.Paragraph 3(3) provides a power to modify sub-paragraph (1) or (2) of this paragraph so as to add a person, vary the description of a person, or remove a person. This would allow for the adjustment of both the list of disqualified individuals in sub-paragraph (1) and also the list in sub-paragraph (2) of individuals who it is generally considered desirable not to appoint. This would be subject to the negative procedure (see section 32). This will allow the provision to be updated as necessary to avoid any conflicts of interest. In particular, the power could (but would not have to) be used in conjunction with an organisation being named as a nominating body through use of the power in section 14(5). Under sub-paragraph (4), the Scottish Ministers must consult such persons (if any) as they consider appropriate before making any regulations under this paragraph.
Schedule – Domestic Homicide Or Suicide Reviews: Public Appointments Paragraph 3 – Criteria for appointment