The Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee will conclude its work in March 2026 ahead of the next Scottish Parliament election. While it will continue to meet, the Committee has agreed it will not consider petitions submitted after 10 October. This is to ensure all petitions currently in the system can be considered before the next Scottish Parliament election. It is also unlikely that the Committee would be able to schedule and meaningfully progress petitions submitted after 10 October before the election. Contact the Committee team at petitions.committee@parliament.scot for more information about the petitions process.
If you are seeking emergency action or an urgent policy change please contact one of your 8 MSPs or the Scottish Government directly
Under consideration PE2085: Introduce a statutory definition of residency for Fatal Accident Inquiries into the deaths of Scots abroad
Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to introduce a statutory definition for Fatal Accident Inquiries into deaths abroad.
Background information
We were informed through a third party and not official channels about the death of our dearly loved family member overseas. We have named suspects, suspected foul play and motive.
It’s clear that the system defined by the Lord Advocate is broken and not understood by the Scottish Government as the ‘term ordinarily resident’ is undefined in law.
The common response is that the 2016 Lord Cullen report offers extra support. There have been no FAIs following the deaths of Scots abroad since its introduction, despite statements from the Scottish Government that FAIs would take place if it is in the public interest to do so or an investigation would prevent further deaths.
Scotland should afford as a minimum similar protection and support as England and Wales when an individual who lives or works abroad is repatriated.
Most families, if correctly informed of the differences and lack of intervention by Scotland would choose to repatriate to England or Wales. Clearly, it’s the duty of the Scottish Government to make the UK Government aware of this.
243 signatures
This petition is now under consideration
Click here for further information about the consideration of this petition.