“ In our opinion, if the Lord Advocate obtained leave to appeal to the Supreme Court and was successful in the appeal, it would be necessary, in fairness to Mr Dean, to determine the undetermined devolution issues which he raised. That would, of course, leave open the possibility of the unsuccessful party seeking leave for a further appeal to the Supreme Court. ”

“ Furthermore Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights was extensively discussed in the course of the opinions; indeed it was central to the arguments that were considered.
[20] Accordingly, as a matter of substance, there is a devolution issue involved. Treating the lack of a relevant Devolution Minute as decisive seems to me to cause niceties of form to triumph over the underlying substance. In my view the substance of the crucial issues in the appeal strongly favours the notion that a devolution issue exists. ”

“ So far as oppression is concerned I am of opinion that this is a new argument to the extent that it goes beyond the basic Article 3 points that were discussed at length in the substantive part of the appeal. If anything is to be made of oppression, I concur with the majority that that is a matter for the United Kingdom Supreme Court. ”