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As one of Scotland’s busiest trial counsel, Thomas Leonard Ross QC is well-known for passionately fighting for justice – in the courtroom and out of it. Most recently he has been a vocal opponent of the proposal that the historical right to trial by jury be removed where serious sexual o
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Two new members have joined the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service Board. Ruth Innes QC joins as advocate member and Lynsey Walker as solicitor member. Their four-year terms began this week. They replace Dr Kirsty J Hood QC and Simon J D Catto.
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A public law and net zero policy development expert has joined Burness Paull. Richard Lockhart was previously general counsel of national infrastructure centre of expertise, Scottish Futures Trust.
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Thorntons' Loretta Maxfield has been named a certified specialist in data protection by the Law Society of Scotland. Ms Maxfield, who has been with Thorntons since 2005, specialises in IP, data protection and information governance, and is qualified in both Scots and English law.
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David Strang has been named as the new chair of the Drug Deaths Taskforce. He is a former chief constable who previously chaired the independent inquiry into mental health services in Tayside. Mr Strang was also HM Chief Inspector of Prisons in Scotland. He takes up this new position with immediate
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Justice Secretary Keith Brown has announced the appointment of Lindsay Montgomery as the new lay chairing member of the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland. Mr Montgomery has substantial experience in the management, leadership and governance of public bodies. Past roles include director of res
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Nadine Martin has been appointed as legal director at Gibson Kerr Solicitors. She has an established practice which encompasses all areas of family law and child law, including separation, divorce, financial provision, cohabitation, residence and contact disputes and relocation of children.
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Lawyers across Scotland are withdrawing from legal aid schemes due to their continuing dispute with the Scottish government over fees. Solicitors in Edinburgh, Aberdeen and the Borders are not participating in duty solicitor schemes in a move that should cause widespread delays to court proceedings
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Legal aid practitioners suffered an expected decline in earnings in the second year of the pandemic, figures from the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) show.
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A sharp fall in legal aid spending highlights the crisis across the sector. Commenting on the fall in legal aid spending from £130.9 million in 2020 to £99.1m in 2020-21, following publication of the Scottish Legal Aid Board’s annual report, the Law Society of Scotland has said the
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Dozens of solicitors gathered outside Holyrood yesterday to demonstrate their deep dissatisfaction with the Scottish government’s inaction to reform legal aid.Ken Dalling, president of the Law Society of Scotland, said: “This crisis has been a generation in the making and the system is
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The Scottish government has "no understanding" of the seriousness of the legal aid problem, a lawyer has said. The reaction follows a letter from from legal affairs minister Ash Regan to Ken Dalling, president of the Law Society of Scotland, and Julia McPartlin, president of the Scottish Solicitors
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More than 140 former heads of state and government and Nobel laureates today called on the candidates to be the next German chancellor – Annalena Baerbock, Olaf Scholz, and Armin Laschet – to declare themselves in favour of waiving intellectual property rules for Covid-19 vaccines and tr
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So-called "vaccine passports" will be required to enter certain events and higher risk venues, such as nightclubs, music festivals and some football grounds under plans being put to MSPs next week. The Scottish Parliament will be asked to vote on the introduction of a Covid-19 vaccination verificati
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A defence lawyer in Canada has praised a judge's decision to exclude unvaccinated jurors – because he "wants intelligent people on the jury". Justice Kevin Phillips, who is overseeing a murder trial in Ottawa, said in a pre-trial ruling that he would dismiss any potential jurors who said they
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International travellers to Scotland will be able to use private sector Covid tests when arriving from green or amber list countries under a change to international travel restrictions. People will soon be able to choose from a list of approved providers when booking the tests they need to take afte
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The Scottish Human Rights Commission has welcomed the Scottish government's committent to a "human rights-based" inquiry into its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. Kavita Chetty, head of strategy and legal for the rights watchdog, briefed MSPs last week on why human rights need to be embedded in th
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Hundreds of thousands of boxes of Kellogg's cereals have been seized by Mexican authorities for being too appealing to children. A new law in Mexico forbids the marketing of sugary foods directly to children, for example with cartoon drawings and mascots, ABC News reports.
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