John Swinney to release the 'Salmond files' before the Holyrood election in May

The First Minister also denied there was a culture of secrecy within his government, despite missing numerous deadlines to publish official documents.

It comes after the Scottish Information Commissioner David Hamilton announced he had instructed solicitors to begin proceedings against the Scottish Government at the Court of Session. This is the first time this has happened in the history of this post.

The commissioner had previously given the government until January 15 to respond to release documents relating to the probe by James Hamilton KC into potential breaches of the ministerial code by former first minister Nicola Sturgeon during the investigation into her predecessor Alex Salmond.

A subsequent deadline was then set for January 22, but the deadline was again missed by ministers.

Last week Mr Swinney criticised Mr Hamilton, saying he had “erred in law” by demanding the government release all the documents in the ‘Salmond files’.

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Speaking on BBC The Sunday Show, Mr Swinney said: “The information commissioner says there is information we need to disclose, but I’m concerned that if the government gets it wrong we will breach court orders protecting the identities of the women who have complained.

“This is a live Freedom of Information request which we are going to answer, but we need to take a little more time to get that right.”

He added: “I cannot do anything that runs the risk of disclosing the identities of the women coming forward in good faith to make complaints of alleged sexual assault.”

The First Minister then said: “It’s going to take a little bit more [time], but definitely not after the election.”

During his interview he was also asked if there was a culture of secrecy within his government, to which he said: “No.”

He then went on to say his government had “made more information available than any other government in the past”.

Last week Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said he would release the ‘Salmond files’ if he wins the upcoming Scottish Parliament election and becomes First Minister.