Professor Robert Black has challenged First Minister Alex Salmond to "immediately set up an independent inquiry into the full circumstances of the Lockerbie case" and adds that the Government's view that it does not have the necessary powers to do so "will no longer wash".

"Until such time as, at the very least, the six grounds on which the SCCRC concluded that he might have been the victim of a miscarriage of justice are addressed, the Scottish criminal justice system will languish at home and abroad under a cloud of suspicion - and rightly so," Black says, writing exclusively in The Firm.

Black, a signatory to an international petition before the UN calling for such a widespread review, says the Scottish Government must not be allowed to "duck" its responsibilities. Earlier this week, Dr Jim Swire announced that UK families of the Pan Am 103 event plan to resurrect Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi's dropped appeal.

"But why let the matter drag on? The Scottish Government should immediately set up an independent inquiry into the full circumstances of the Lockerbie case. The excuse that under the devolution settlement Scotland does not have the necessary powers will no longer wash. The Scottish Government should not be allowed to expect other authorities to pick up the gauntlet," he says.

"This is undeniably a Scottish issue and the Scottish Government must not be allowed to duck it. Over to you, Alex. You know it’s the right thing to do."

Professor Black's comments can be read in full here.