A helpline that supports victims of cybercrime has seen a dramatic increase in calls in the last year. The Cyber and Fraud Centre Incident Response Helpline, a collaboration between the Cyber and Fraud Centre – Scotland, Police Scotland and the Scottish government, with technical and legal inc
Appointments
See all articlesGraham MacIver has accepted the appointment as first standing junior counsel to the advocate general for Scotland effective from 1 April and Usman Tariq has accepted the appointment as second standing junior counsel on an interim basis from 1 April to 10 September 2024 – when the appointment o
His Majesty The King has appointed Collette Gallagher, Anna Reid, Joseph Stewart, Lorna Anderson, Clare Arias, Sean Lynch, Angela Farrell, Edward Gilroy, Maria Kicinski, Mark Allan, Neil Kinnear, Clair McLachlan and Mark O’Hanlon to the office of summary sheriff, on the recommendation of the f
TLT has promoted restructuring and insolvency lawyer Ainslie Benzie. Ms Benzie joined TLT as legal director in 2020 to lead the firm’s restructuring and insolvency practice in Scotland. In her time at the firm, she has led on some of the most complex restructuring and insolvency matters in the
Harper Macleod has made four senior appointments, including two new partners, to strengthen its expertise in the built environment and energy sectors. Alexis Condie joins as a partner in the firm’s commercial property team in Edinburgh. She has advised on complex leasing, acquisitions and sale
Jones Whyte has announced a series of promotions across the firm. Roisin Gunn, Kiera Lambie, Ryan Morton, Rebecca Devine, from the private client department have all been promoted to associate solicitor. In the personal injury department, Tanya Bagri and John Bayne have also been promoted to the pos
The Law Society of Scotland granted extended rights of audience to two new solicitor advocates at a ceremony held at the Court of Session yesterday. Lindsay McNeill, from law firm BTO, and Mohammed Hamza Sarwar at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) now have extended rights of aud
Legal Aid
See all articlesThe number of criminal legal aid solicitors dropped from 1,459 in 2007 to 966, the Scottish Solicitors Bar Association (SSBA) has said as it warned the system was heading for collapse. The Scottish government's public spend on legal aid has declined by 45 per cent, allowing for inflation, over the p
The Scottish government’s 2024-25 budget continues its distorted and shortsighted approach to criminal justice, according to the Law Society of Scotland. The budget papers reveal an extra £22 million has been provided to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), while the f
The Scottish Legal Aid Board has confirmed that as at 1 June 2023 there were 975 lawyers on the Criminal Legal Aid Register, following a freedom of information request by the Scottish Solicitors Bar Association (SSBA). Of those 975, however, 238 received no payment for criminal legal aid in the year
Criminal barristers in Northern Ireland are to stage a one-day strike on Friday 17 November 2023 in an escalating dispute over delays in legal aid payments. The local Criminal Bar Association (CBA) previously balloted members on a withdrawal of services in response to “unprecedented and worsen
Scotland's legal aid system "can't cope" with demand and there is a risk of a "total collapse of justice in Scotland", a senior criminal defence lawyer has said after being unable to find counsel for a serious High Court case. Ian Moir, partner at Moir and Sweeney Litigation, tweeted on Friday that
Universities
See all articlesLondon South Bank University has become the first in the UK to guarantee LLB students professional work experience as part of their degree. Every LLB student at the university will be given the opportunity to work in one of five clinics through what it calls its 'Law Clinic Guarantee'.
An environmental scientist who spent a year campaigning for the banning of disposable vapes, is working with MPs and MSPs to develop new laws. Laura Young, a PhD student jointly supervised by the University of Dundee and Abertay University, is part of a group working to develop new legislation aroun
A new social enterprise spin-out company – C2LI – has been launched by the University of Strathclyde. C2LI (Climate Change Legal Initiative) aims to tackle global warming by helping private and public sector organisations understand and adhere to climate change-related law.
A monograph by Professor Alexandra Braun, of Edinburgh Law School, has been selected as one of the Law Books of the Year in the German law journal Juristen Zeitung. Claiming a Promised Inheritance: A Comparative Study examines cases where a person is promised a future inheritance
Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC has been interviewed by students at Aberdeen University for International Women's Day. Ms Bain appeared on the 100% Legal podcast, produced by the Aberdeen University Law Society, to discuss her path into the law, corroboration and other ongoing legal issues.
And Finally
See all articlesA four-figure reward is on offer for the return of a life-sized bronze stag statue stolen from a London garden. 'Henry', said to be worth up to £10,000 (around €11,600), was abducted from the front garden of interior design expert Alison Cork MBE, the Evening Standard reports.
A wildlife rescue of a baby hedgehog turned out to be a hat bobble. The bobble was brought to the Lower Moss Nature Reserve and Wildlife Hospital by a concerned rescuer last week.
North Korea's state broadcaster has censored an old episode of an Alan Titchmarsh gardening show, blurring his blue jeans as an apparent symbol of western imperialism. Episodes of BBC series Garden Secrets have since 2022 been regularly broadcast in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK),
A man who learned printing skills in prison as part of a rehabilitative programme later put his skills to work counterfeiting bank notes, according to police. Bhupendra Singh Dhakat, a 35-year-old man from the state of Madhya Pradesh in India, was found to have nearly 100 counterfeit notes when arre
A teacher sacked for rapping under the stage name "Drippin' Honey" is planning to sue her former employer. Domonique Brown, a teacher in Detroit, Michigan, was fired after a parent complained to school officials about the rap videos she uploaded online.