Typically, a few dozen FAIs take place each year, while all other deaths are considered behind closed doors at the Crown Office. Compare that with the situation in England and Wales, where tens of thousands of coroners’ inquests are held in public. Families keep being failed by Scotland’s slow and ineffective system of investigating sudden, suspicious, accidental or unexplained deaths.

Does the solicitor general agree that a root-and-branch review of FAIs is needed?