Knuckle rap for QC over parliament comment
John Campbell ticked off for "librarian" description of senior civil servant
A QC has been disciplined by the Faculty of Advocates for describing a senior civil servant as a librarian who wasn't qualified to take charge of the construction of the Scottish Parliament.
John Campbell was found to have breached the Faculty's code of conduct. He did not name the civil servant - Barbara Doig - in a speech that he gave to architects in Edinburgh in 2004 about why he felt the Holyrood construction had taken so long and had been so over budget. However, he did say that he thought the problems began when a "librarian" had been appointed as the project sponsor, someone he described as being totally dependent on others for advice.
When the speech was reported, Mrs Doig - a senior researcher and statistician before taking over the Holyrood project - took offence and complained to the Faculty of Advocates. Mr Campbell has been ordered not to comment further on the inquiry.
Mr Campbell was counsel to the inquiry by Lord Fraser of Carmyllie QC into the parliament building project, and questioned Mrs Doig over her role in appointing the main contractors Bovis Construction.
The disciplinary proceedings took place in September, but the details were only released by the Faculty yesterday following the publication of Presiding Officer George Reid's closure report on the costs of the parliament building.
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