THE law on fatal accident inquiries is to be reviewed for the first time in more than 30 years, it was announced today.

The probe will be led by retired senior judge Lord Cullen, who held public inquiries into the Piper Alpha oil platform explosion, the Dunblane schoolroom massacre, and the Ladbroke Grove train crash in London.

The move was announced by justice secretary Kenny MacAskill and the review is expected to take up to a year.

It will consider whether fatal accident inquiries (FAIs) should stay within the sheriff court structure, and where the FAIs should fit in relation to others like Health and Safety Executive inquiries.

"Although we believe the system generally works well and has served Scotland well in the main, concerns have been raised about it in recent years," said Mr MacAskill.

In particular there are concerns about delays in the system, and about monitoring how sheriffs' recommendations are monitored.

"The Scottish Government has listened to these concerns and that is why we want to see a more fundamental examination of the fatal accident inquiry system," said the minister.

"This review will establish whether it provides a robust, but proportionate means of judicial inquiry of sudden, accidental, unexpected or unexplained deaths in the public interest and, if not, what should take its place.

The Lord Advocate Elish Angiolini said: "This review will ensure the legislation is fit for purpose for the next 30 years, and allow all parts of the system to develop and improve the work we do in this very important and sensitive area."

The review will scrutinise the operation of the Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths Inquiries (Scotland) Act 1976, the most recent legislation covering them.

They are held "in the public interest", and about 60 take place every year.

Among the issues to be studied in the review are legal representation for bereaved families, the use of expert evidence, and whether there should be inquiries into all Scots deaths abroad.

That issue has come to the fore through the British military death toll in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Ministry of Defence repatriates the bodies of service personnel killed overseas to airfields in the south of England.

This means Scottish fatalities come within the scope of coroners' inquests as soon as their bodies arrive on English soil.

But the number of casualties has led to a backlog of inquests.

Under the Coroners Act 1988 coroners can hold inquests only within their own districts, so there is no legislative basis for inquests to be held outside England.

And in Scotland the 1976 legislation requires the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service to investigate deaths only in Scotland.

SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson welcomed today's move.

He has argued the deaths of 14 personnel from RAF Kinloss in a Nimrod crash in Kandahar, Afghanistan, show the need for reforming the "out of date and unfit for purpose" legislation.

"My own concerns stem particularly from the delays in inquiries into service personnel fatalities, of up to five years," he said.

"Families who have lost loved ones abroad are sick of the delays in the coroner's court system in England, and of the need to travel to attend them.

"At a time of grief it is natural and proper that we should make it easier for the families and friends of those killed to understand the circumstances of their loved one's death.

"The notion that the Scottish legal system can't deal with this effectively is nonsense, and I am delighted that the Scottish Government have taken seriously the need to find a system that will reduce the stress, anguish and delay faced by bereaved families."

A Scottish Government spokesman said the administration was continuing to explore with Westminster how the deaths of Scottish-based service personnel could be dealt with closer to home.

"This review into FAIs, which Lord Cullen is leading, will consider the issue of deaths of Scots abroad more generally and will only consider the specific issue of Scottish military deaths abroad if we are unable to find a solution with the UK Government," he said.

"However, there is a shared desire to reduce the additional stress for bereaved families caused by them having to travel to England to attend a coroner's inquest.

"We need to ensure that service families are supported by better and more sensitive arrangements at what will be agonising times in their lives.

"We are well aware of the sensitivities around this and are determined to find a solution to this important issue as soon as possible."