The Crown Office has failed to apologise to a young woman in Aberdeen who was arrested and spent the night in cells due to the incompetence of its staff.
Appointments
See all articlesAddleshaw Goddard has bolstered its corporate and commercial team in Aberdeen with three new senior recruits this summer. Jennifer Cham, who comes in as a managing associate, and new legal directors Gemma Hills and Emma Sinclair have all joined the office, strengthening the firm's coverage in the ci
Gilson Gray has strengthened its Dundee team, with the appointment of a new partner. John Kydd, a litigator with a 20-year career across Tayside and the north-east of Scotland, has joined Gilson Gray. He was previously a partner with Thorntons, having joined as a trainee in 2001.
Lindsays has welcomed Jordan Hay as senior solicitor in the firm's private client team in Edinburgh as well as solicitors Gemma-Grace Johnstone and Maddie Miller, who have joined the commercial property teams in Dundee and Edinburgh respectively. Mr Hay has experience in providing advice to individu
Peter Smith has joined Shepherd and Wedderburn as a commercial property partner, heading the firm’s real estate team in the Aberdeen office and bringing 19 years’ expertise advising clients in the real estate sector. Mr Smith, who will lead the development of the firm’s real estate
Blackadders LLP has appointed Philip Buchan WS as the new head of rural land and business. Mr Buchan, who specialises in countryside matters, will work closely with the firm’s partners in the provision of advice to private clients with rural interests and implement the firm’s plan for co
Lindsays has announced the recruitment of five new trainees. The five will start their rotations in a variety of departments across Lindsays’ three city offices. They are:
Legal Aid
See all articlesLegal affairs minister Ash Regan has made what she claims is a “substantial and credible offer” of support to legal aid practitioners amid a bizarre claim that Scotland has "finest legal aid system in the world". A "robust" package of support was set out by Ms Regan in a letter to the se
Solicitors in London are refusing to take on cases for defendants accused of assaulting emergency workers and harassment in a legal aid row with the UK government. Defence lawyers in the capital have already refused burglary cases on the basis legal aid fees are inadequate.
Criminal law barristers have overwhelmingly voted to strike as part of their legal aid dispute with the UK government. Following a ballot of 2,500 members, the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) said it would pursue "the highest form of escalation", consisting of "days of action combined with both no re
The Scottish government has been sharply criticised over a "lack of engagement" with solicitors as the criminal justice system teeters on the brink of collapse. The Scottish Solicitors Bar Association (SSBA), which was formed in 2021 to represent and promote the interests of criminal defence solicit
Responding to the Scottish government’s Resource Spending Review announced last week, the Law Society of Scotland has criticised the freezing of justice budgets until 2027, saying that the government’s commitment to the recovery of the courts post-pandemic requires investment which is no
Ukraine
See all articlesThere is an urgent need for the UK and its allies like the USA and Australia to give clearer information about how they would respond in self-defence to ‘imminent’ armed attacks, a new study says. This is because the UN Charter requires countries to establish that they have been a victim
A Moscow court has sentenced an opposition councillor and lawyer to seven years' imprisonment for criticising Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in what is the first sentence to be given for such offences. Alexei Gorinov, a deputy at Moscow’s Krasnoselsky district council, was arrested in April and
Foreign lawyers have been invited to join the Ukraine Bar Association (UBA) to show support for the war-torn country's legal profession. Lawyers anywhere in the world can become 'international participants' for €200 per year to "join our cause and help us continue our activities".
Russia has been told by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) to stay the execution of two British men serving in the Ukrainian army who were captured in Mariupol and sentenced to death. The applicants, Shaun Pinner and Aiden Aslin, are British citizens who were born in 1973 and 1994, respectiv
Tom Stocker, partner and sanctions expert at Pinsent Masons, discusses the implications for businesses that comply with sanctions on Russian trade. Despite successive rounds of UK, EU and US sanctions ratcheting up the pressure on Putin’s government and a further round of sanctions being immin
And Finally
See all articlesA lawyer who was overcharged for railway tickets by mere pennies has won compensation after a 22-year-long case. Tungnath Chaturvedi, from the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, sued after he was charged an extra 20 rupees (around €0.24 or £0.21) for two tickets in 1999, the BBC reports.
Manufacturers of women's clothing in Iran have been threatened with closure if they persist in using "loud" colours. Iran's ministry of industry and trade has "emphasised that manufacturers should not use loud colours", according to the head of Iran's fashion and clothing organisation.
Pop star Taylor Swift has appealed against a judge's ruling permitting a trial over claims she plagiarised lyrics for her hit song Shake It Off. Swift's lawyers argued the judgment was “unprecedented” and said that the case was based on phrases that are commonly used.
A dummy of Frankenstein's monster held at the V&A in London has led to a trans-Atlantic ownership row after a museum in the US called for it to be repatriated. The seven foot wooden mannequin is based on the actor Boris Karloff, who played the monster in his films in the 1930s and 40s.
A police force has been criticised after warning an internet celebrity over his famous out-of-tune renditions of popular songs. Hero Alom, from Bangaldesh, has almost two million followers on Facebook and nearly 1.5 million subscribers on YouTube.