Decision due on whether Sturgeon broke ministerial code

The independent inquiry into whether Nicola Sturgeon breached the ministerial code is set to publish its findings on Monday.

An investigation by lawyer James Hamilton QC has been examining whether the First Minister misled parliament.

He is also examining if she should have recorded meetings with Alex Salmond and whether she prolonged the government’s defence of a judicial review brought by her predecessor contrary to the legal advice.

The Scottish Government received the report from Mr Hamilton on Monday morning and said it would be published in the afternoon.

Sturgeon, who denies breaching the ministerial code, has previously promised the report would be published on the day the government received it.

The Scottish Conservatives have repeatedly called on the First Minister to resign ahead of the report being released.

Mr Hamilton, the former director of public prosecutions in the Republic of Ireland, is the independent advisor to the Scottish Government on the ministerial code – a set of rules about how ministers should conduct themselves.

The current First Minister referred herself to him following Salmond’s successful legal challenge of the Scottish Government’s unlawful investigation into harassment complaints against him, which led to him winning more than £500,000 in court.

The investigation was paused in early 2019 to avoid prejudicing criminal proceedings brought against Salmond.

He was acquitted of 13 charges, including sexual assault, indecent assault and attempted rape, in March 2020 following a High Court trial and Mr Hamilton’s inquiry was delayed again by the pandemic, before resuming in August 2020.

The code says it is the First Minister who is “the ultimate judge of the standards of behaviour expected of a minister” and the appropriate consequences for breaches.

Speaking outside her Glasgow home on Monday morning, Sturgeon said: “I’m going to do what I’ve done every day for the last year – lead the country through a pandemic.”