Voters deserve a constitutional right to strip disgraced MSPs of their seat, Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said yesterday.

The SNP deputy leader backed a right of recall as part of a new Scottish constitution in an address to the Law Society of Scotland.

She said her cabinet expected to publish a constitutional platform in the coming months as a "basic foundation" for voters to consider.

"The time has come to give the people more say and control over who represents them between elections," she told the assembled lawyers.

"A recall provision has to be tightly and carefully drawn to prevent abuse, but we've seen through - particularly the expenses scandals - some quite outrageous situations where politicians behave appallingly and the electorate seem powerless."

Ms Sturgeon's comments follow the conviction of then-sitting MSP Bill Walker in August last year on 23 counts of assault.

The serial abuser, who was elected member for Dunfermline on an SNP platform in 2011, was found guilty of a string of attacks on his three ex-wives and a step-daughter between 1967 and 1995.

He was expelled from the party in March 2012 when the allegations first went public, but clung to his £58,000-a-year seat in the Scottish Parliament even after his conviction, finally quitting in September.

Under current law an MSP cannot be disqualified for a custodial sentence of 12 months or less.