I am sure we have all been following Soham with horror. I wonder what evidence would have been required to convince the twelfth juror and how he now feels in the light of what has come out since. It was always one of the perks of being a Fiscal in a case with a majority verdict to watch the faces while reading out the, usually extensive, list of previous convictions.

Soham again raises the problem of protecting children without overprotecting them. Once again it was not the unknown stranger but someone the children knew and presumably trusted. Indeed the vast bulk of child abuse arises within the family circle. While child murder is rare, child abuse is horribly common and takes many forms. Many years ago I was working in the Scottish Law Commission when the law of incest was being reviewed. It was reliably submitted that incest happened in approximately one in ten households. Statistically each one of you knows several people who have been abused as children.

I was most upset watching the video footage of the small figure of James Bulger being taken past so many adults, not one of whom intervened. It is perhaps too easy for each of us to choose not to see what is there to be seen.

The Law too has been dreadful in dealing with children as witnesses and, in my opinion, frequently added to the abuse in the way they were handled in court. Scots Law requires witnesses to stand in court and give their evidence orally in the presence of the accused. No exception was made even if the witness was a child victim. Some leeway was introduced by Guidelines set down by the senior Scottish Judge as late as 1990, with further statutory provisions introduced in 1993. Even these were subject to the direction of Judges and could not be ascertained until the last moment, adding to the stress on the child. Indeed there was one infamous case where proper evidence was produced showing the child could not give evidence directly and seeking use of closed circuit television. Notwithstanding this, the Judge decided that the child had to give evidence in open court in the presence of the abuser and would only be allowed to use CCTV if she broke down in the witness box! Presumably someone would then find Pixie dust to scatter so that she would be calm enough to continue. No one invited the Judge to join the rest of us on planet Earth.

However the Scottish Executive has firmly grasped this nettle and is presently steering a Bill through Parliament to give children and other vulnerable witnesses enforceable rights to enable them to give evidence. This is indeed a giant leap in protecting children by enabling evidence to be led to convict abusers.

Children have an unalienable right to be protected from abuse and the duty to ensure that falls upon all of us.

While researching this article, I came across a most useful guide on the Executive website. It sets out parental responsibilities and rights in simple terms and is called "Your Children Matter." I commend it to all.

Finally my thoughts at New Year were with those who set off fireworks over several days and at varying times, whereby many others were brought very close to their terrified pets. Perhaps it is fortunate that not all of my New Year wishes are likely to come true.