A PUBLIC consultation has been launched by a Labour MSP on plans for a major change to Scottish justice by scrapping one of the two verdicts of "not proven" or "not guilty".
Michael McMahon, the MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, believes it is time to end the three-verdict system and to increase the majority required for conviction.
He said: "Scotland is unique in having three verdicts in a criminal case, two of which are legally identical. This exists purely by accident of history and it seems to me illogical, inconsistent and confusing.
"This is compounded by juries not being allowed to be told, prior to considering their verdict, what the implications of finding the case against a defendant 'not proven'."
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