News

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

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has welcomed the decision to give Julian Assange leave to appeal his extradition, handed down at the English High Court yesterday, subject to assurances from the US government that address their grounds of appeal. Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secreta

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.

New legislation giving tenants more rights and addressing homelessness has been published. The Housing (Scotland) Bill will introduce an ‘ask and act’ duty on social landlords and bodies, such as health boards and the police, to ask about a person’s housing situation and act to avo

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

London 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'.

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),

The European Commission has launched investigations into Google owner Alphabet, Apple and Meta under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The non-compliance investigations announced yesterday will scrutinise Alphabet's rules on steering in Google Play and self-preferencing on Google Search, Apple's rules

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

Victims of domestic violence have been encouraged to seek support and report incidents to police following a reduction in recorded cases. Newly published statistics show Police Scotland recorded 61,934 incidents of domestic abuse in 2022-23, a decrease of four per cent compared to the previous year.

Florida has passed a new law that bans children under the age of 14 from having social media accounts in an attempt to shield minors from harmful content. The new law, which is one of the most restrictive in the US, will force social media companies to delete the accounts of children under 14 when i

Scullion Law has become the victim of a cyberattack. The firm has been targeted by Russian ransomware operator Black Basta.

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

Reintroduction of fees in Employment Tribunals will cause unacceptable access to justice issues for those most in need of free legal protections, according to the Law Society of Scotland. The Law Society responded to Ministry of Justice’s consultation on introducing fees in the Employment Trib

Independence would allow Scotland to "further" improve its education system, including a proposal to enshrine the government’s policy on free tuition in Scotland’s "permanent" constitution, according to a new paper published by Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth. Education and Lifelong Le