LORD Nimmo Smith has insisted the independent commission which is set to rule on Rangers' alleged improper use of Employee Benefit Trusts will not be affected by the influence of the SPL board.
One newspaper went public yesterday with details of an apparent offer made to Ibrox majority shareholder Charles Green by the SPL and the SFA.
It would have seen the club stripped of five SPL titles and four Scottish Cups for their failure to declare payments to players made through their EBT scheme between 2000 and 2011.
The revelation lends itself to accusations that such discussions prejudged and potentially prejudiced the case.
But in a lengthy statement, the Law Lord has insisted that the commission will not be burdened by the SPL during its investigation.
"It is fundamental to the constitution of a body with investigatory and disciplinary powers, such as the present commission, that it must act independently of the person or body appointing it," said Nimmo Smith, who is joined on the independent panel by QCs Nicholas Stewart and Charles Flint.
"We must of course operate within the terms of our remit, and apply any rules which are applicable.
"But in reaching our final determination of the issues, and in making any incidental decisions, we shall exercise our own judgment, on the basis of the evidence which is adduced, in accordance with the principles of natural justice, and unfettered by the influence of the board or of anyone else.
"None of us would have accepted his appointment on any other basis.
"We have the use of SPL premises and are assisted by SPL staff, but this is because we have given instructions to that effect; the members of staff, in particular, act under our instructions."
Along with former Rangers chairman Alastair Johnston, Green has questioned the independence of the tribunal and suggested that the SPL no longer has jurisdiction over Rangers because they are now playing in the SFL.
Lord Nimmo Smith also deals with this argument.
"To take the hypothetical example of a club which has been engaged in match-fixing in the last game of the season but is then relegated and consequently ceases to be a member of the SPL, there is every reason why it should still be liable to disciplinary action at the instance of the SPL – whether or not the breach comes to light before or after that club has relinquished its SPL membership," he said.
"Oldco appears to us to be in no different a position."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article