This is my take on what is happening now.
With the judgement of the SC, reported in every British newspaper, the McCanns can't be seen to be doing nothing to overturn that judgement. Of course we who are interested in the case know that no matter what the ECHR decide, and the McCanns still have to have their application accepted, it will not make an iota of difference to the SC judgement however the average tabloid reader wouldn't and this is who these articles are targeted at.
IMO the McCanns are well aware that their application will not succeed and these articles are merely a holding manoeuvre, printed in the knowledge that your average tabloid reader has a very, very short memory.
9 FEBRUARY 2017
Madeleine McCann’s parents have not been ruled innocent when it comes to their daughter’s disappearance, a judge in Portugal’s highest court has said.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/02/09/madeleine-mccanns-parents-have-not-ruled-innocent-judge-says/9 February 2017
Judges made it clear in their decision their job was not to decide whether the McCanns bore any criminal responsibility over their daughter's disappearance and it would be wrong for anyone to draw any inferences about the couple's guilt or innocence from their ruling.
But they added: 'It should not be said that the appellants were cleared via the ruling announcing the archiving of the criminal case.
'In truth, that ruling was not made in virtue of Portugal's Public Prosecution Service having acquired the conviction that the appellants hadn't committed a crime.
'The archiving of the case was determined by the fact that public prosecutors hadn't managed to obtain sufficient evidence of the practice of crimes by the appellants.
'There is therefore a significant, and not merely a semantic difference, between the legally admissible foundations of the archive ruling.
'It doesn't therefore seem acceptable that the ruling, based on the insufficiency of evidence, should be equated to proof of innocence.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4206214/Court-says-Madeleine-McCann-s-parents-HAVEN-T-cleared.html#ixzz4sMyED0uo February 9 2017
The Supreme Court judges said that lifting their status as formal suspects does not mean that they were innocent.
The court said it wasn't their job to determine whether the McCanns bore any criminal responsibility over their daughter's disappearance and said it would be wrong for anyone to draw any inferences about the couple's guilt or innocence from their ruling.
According to the Telegraph, they said: "It should not be said that the appellants were cleared via the ruling announcing the archiving of the criminal case. In truth, that ruling was not made in virtue of Portugal's Public Prosecution Service having acquired the conviction that the appellants hadn't committed a crime.
"The archiving of the case was determined by the fact that public prosecutors hadn't managed to obtain sufficient evidence of the practice of crimes by the appellants.
"There is therefore a significant, and not merely a semantic difference, between the legally admissible foundations of the archive ruling. It doesn't therefore seem acceptable that the ruling, based on the insufficiency of evidence, should be equated to proof of innocence."
They added: "It's true that the aforementioned criminal inquiry ended up being archived, namely because none of the apparent evidence that led to the appellants being made 'arguidos' was subsequently confirmed or consolidated.
"However even the archive ruling raises serious concerns relating to the truth of the allegation that Madeleine was kidnapped."
http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/britain/madeleine-mccanns-parents-have-not-been-ruled-innocent-judge-says-35437360.htmlIt seems I was wrong about semantics not being an issue should the McCann request to be heard by the European Court be granted.
It is a word which has appeared in the offending opinion of the judges who should in my opinion have implemented their own caveat and borne in mind what they were judging and not that about which they admitted they had no locus.
It has taken ten years to get to this stage in Portugal; making a four year wait for the European Court to sit in judgement should the case be accepted.
If you were in a similar situation as the McCanns and were content to cowtow to such a ruling that would be a matter for you.
Were I in the McCann's situation I would be doing exactly what they are ... and challenging a supreme court ruling which had driven a coach and horses through my reputation and my honour.