I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Touhig, who drew my attention to a Scottish television report of September 2012, which says:
“Investigations into the deaths of Scottish military personnel killed abroad will be able to take place in Scotland for the first time from later this month. Up until now inquests into the deaths of servicemen and women have often had to be heard in England, forcing their bereaved families to travel long distances to take part in the hearings. But a change in the law means that from next Monday, September 24, the inquests will be able to be held north of the border”.
The mechanism is that the chief coroner, Peter Thornton, can,
“recommend to the Lord Advocate … that an investigation be transferred to Scotland”.
It arises out of 14 servicemen dying when their Nimrod crashed in Afghanistan; they were based in Moray, at RAF Kinloss, and the inquests were held in England.