England's police, prosecution service and its entire legal culture have been wrenched towards modernity by the catalyst of the Stephen Lawrence case, leading to yesterday's watershed prosecutions for his racist murder.  In Scotland, we have a long way to go before our system can match the progress so far shown down south.

It has been a long road towards justice for Stephen Lawrence, and a finishing line of sorts was crossed with the conviction of two men for his murder. The innate failings of the English justice system exemplified by the case led to significant overhaul reform and recognition that the "institutional racism" of London's police could no longer be tolerated. The world isn't perfect, but it is improved as a result of the campaign driven reforms brought about since that awful murder almost 19 years ago.

A BBC reporter asked yesterday if the two guilty verdicts signified a new maturity in UK society, in it's attitude to race in justice. Their correspondent Mark Easton, whose reports bookended the case over 19 years, said Britain was more at ease with its multucultural status, and the Guardian said last night that the case has changed Britain. However, it is difficult to conclude that the active steps taken and the progress achieved in England is in any sense mirrored in Scotland.

In both jurisdictions, institutional racism has been acknowledged, but Hadrian's judicial wall has not been breached by Stephen Lawrence's legacy. Scotland had no equivalent judicial reflection nor impetus for total change, and it's most notorious racist murder remains unsolved.

Last night Aamer Anwar, solicitor for the family of Surjit Singh Chokhar said that the Lawrence case simply highlights the extent to which institutional racism is still firmly at the heart of our justice system. He says the lack of any conviction in he case represents a betrayal of justice, and it is certainly notable that the notoriety and publicity surrounding the Stephen Lawrence case is inversely mirrored by the silence and inaction that characterises the Chokhar case.

Despite the introduction of the double jeopardy law reform and a direct plea from Anwar to the Lord Advocate to reconsider the case, the gulf separating Chokhar from Lawrence is both disturbing and sadly consistent.

As Aamer Anwar's damning indictment suggests, Scotland's justice establishment is not ready to acknowledge the failures of the past or learn their lessons. The result is the repetition of cultural mistakes and disturbing, continuing echoes of Stephen Lawrence, right here in Scotland, within the last twelve months.

Simon San was killed in August 2010, and his killers were ultimately convicted, but only after the failure of the police and Crown Office to accept that a racist crime had occurred was exposed last year. Lothian and Borders police took the brave step of apologising, and Simon's family pressed the Crown Office to do the same. They did not, and it was left to Simon's bereaved father to conclude the COPFS were guilty of legitimising racism by their silence.

Steven Raeburn, Editor