Sexual crimes in Scotland were 10 per cent higher compared to the year ending December 2024, new figures from Scotland’s chief statistician show. In the year ending December 2025 the police in Scotland recorded 308,532 crimes. This was three per cent higher than the 298,306 crimes recorded in
Appointments
See all articlesThe Law Society of Scotland granted extended rights of audience to 15 new solicitor advocates in two ceremonies held this week.
The Lord President, Lord Pentland, has appointed new employment judges in Scotland. The new salaried judges in the Dundee Office of Employment Tribunals are:
Freeths has strengthened its commercial practice in Scotland with the appointment of partner Richard Lockhart to its Glasgow office. Mr Lockhart, who joins from Burness Paull, specialises in programme development, government policy implementation, governance, procurement, funding and commercial advi
Rory Brown has joined Inksters Solicitors as a consultant solicitor in Edinburgh. Mr Brown has many years of experience both in private practice and recently in-house for a large events company. With expertise in commercial contracts, cybersecurity, data protection and insurance law, Rory has been f
Anderson Strathern has announced the appointment of Dawn MacPherson as a partner. Ms MacPherson, who will be based in Edinburgh, joins the firm’s English commercial property team, led by Iain Grieve.
Gillespie Macandrew LLP has appointed Gavin Merchant as its new CEO, with effect from 1 March. Mr Merchant succeeds Robert Graham-Campbell, who retires after eight years in the role. Having studied law at the University of Edinburgh and subsequently qualified as a Chartered Accountant, Mr Merchant b
Universities
See all articlesDundee University has won the Lord Jones Intervarsity Mooting Competition on the occasion of its 10th anniversary. Hosted by the University of Dundee Mooting Society at Dundee Law School, the competition follows the format of the Inner Temple Inter-Varsity Moot in London.
GCU Law academics Dr Andrew Tickell and Seonaid Stevenson-McCabe have been nominated for a research prize for leading a successful campaign to secure lifelong anonymity for victims of sexual offences in Scotland. The Glasgow Caledonian University lecturers have been shortlisted for the Socio-Legal S
The Committee of Heads of Scottish Law Schools responds to an article in Scottish Legal News last year on the use of AI in their institutions. In early December 2025, Corsino San Miguel wrote an article for Scottish Legal News in which, drawing on selected examples from law firms and certain law sch
The Scottish Universities Law Institutes and the Edinburgh Centre for Private Law are delighted to invite you to join us to celebrate the launch of the second edition of Personal Bar by Professors Elspeth Reid and John Blackie, hosted by the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh. When published in 2006,
New research from Abertay University and UHI Perth has uncovered the key factors driving repeat adult missing incidents and warns that weak or inconsistent follow‑up support is leaving vulnerable people at continued risk. Published in the Psychology, Crime & Law journal, the new study offers o
Legal Aid
See all articlesSolicitors who provide legal aid will receive a 13 per cent increase in fees from September this year. The fees hike is part of a wider package of support including also funding for up to 40 legal aid traineeship places and digital support to help firms purchase devices to assist trainees in their w
The Law Society of Scotland is seeking urgent clarification from the Scottish government on why legal aid has again been ignored in the final budget before this year’s Holyrood election. Finance Secretary Shona Robinson announced the 2026-27 budget in the Scottish Parliament on 13 January 2026
The Scottish government is pausing it’s proposed changes to legal aid for adults with legal incapacity (AWI) cases, following an intervention by Govan Law Centre. Last month, GLC wrote to the Holyrood's Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee to recommend rejection of a draft Scottish statut
The Law Society of Scotland has warned that proposed changes to legal aid fees for cases related to adults with incapacity (AWI) would further exacerbate the shortage of solicitors for such work. The warning is contained in a submission by the Law Society on potential changes to legal aid regulation
Laura Simpson and Christine McKellar of Govan Law Centre raise the alarm over proposed changes to legal aid for adults with incapacity in Scotland. It is no secret that Scotland’s legal aid system is in urgent need of reform. With the increase in legal aid deserts caused by an ever-diminishing
And Finally
See all articlesA man who admitted smuggling drugs into Mexico has been given the benefit of the doubt after saying he didn't mean to bring them back to Canada. Daniel Jacob Cluett was charged with three counts of importing substances into Canada after border officials found cocaine and MDMA in his luggage.
A flying pig caused a power outage in rural China after a farmer decided to try transporting his animals via drone. The man, who is now facing a police investigation, had sought to find a quicker route to a local slaughterhouse in the mountainous Tongjiang county area.
Russia's Supreme Court has upheld a fine imposed on search giant Google which is roughly a million times more than the combined GDP of the entire world. Judge Sergei Samuylov said there were no grounds to review the imposition of the 91.5 quintillion rouble fine (around €1.2 quintillion or &pou
A top City of London banker has admitted to systematically dodging rail fares for nearly a year – saving himself £6,000 in the process. Joseph Molloy, a former HSBC executive, avoided a prison sentence after admitting to 740 instances of "doughnutting".
A "two-email limit" has been imposed on lawyers in England's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in a bid to encourage younger members of staff, whose entire generation appear to have telephonophobia, to pick up the phone. Stephen Parkinson, the director of public prosecutions, has ordered a clamp-down










