A new law that stops Shetland being put in a box on maps of Scotland has come into force. Under the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018, its position relative to the mainland will now have to be “accurately and proportionately” shown on maps produced by Scottish government bodies.
Search: Scots syndicate 1901 bought land in Glasgow for £5000
The Scottish government has been accused of “selling the silverware” of Scotland’s courts for a fraction of their value. The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) began closing one in five sheriff and justice of the peace courts in 2013, despite warnings of an increased work
Global attention has recently focused on the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court, but Graham Ogilvy reports that the appointment of Scottish lawyer James Wilson as one of the first six SCOTUS justices was also controversial — when Wilson was twice incarcerated in a debtor&rs
A new protocol launches today on recording and broadcasting hearings in Scotland’s Supreme Courts and on tweeting from all courts. The document enables journalists to apply to record and broadcast certain types of case from the High Court and from the Court of Session.
Members of Westwater Advocates have been awarded an impressive 23 individual recommendations in 8 categories in the newly published 2019 edition of the Chambers Directory and a further 31 Tier 1 Ranking in 9 of the 13 categories in the Legal 500, published last week following a brief delay. The Cham
Graham Ogilvy looks at the life of the radical William Davidson. The release last week of Mike Leigh's new film Peterloo telling the story of the notorious 1819 massacre of supporters of parliamentary reform in Manchester brings to mind the intriguing story of William Davidson, a Jamaican-born black
Five Scottish solicitors, admitted by the Law Society Council as solicitor advocates with extended rights of audience, were introduced to the court at a ceremony yesterday. Following the ceremony, the new solicitor advocates will be allowed to exercise their extended rights of audience in the higher
Pictured (L-R): Eric McQueen, Sheriff Principal Derek Pyle, Inverness Provost Helen Carmichael and Jeff Hedley A topping out ceremony was held on the site of Scotland’s first purpose-built justice centre in Inverness yesterday.
A taskforce will be set up to take forward recommendations from the First Minister’s Advisory Group on Human Rights Leadership.The announcement was made by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on Human Rights Day today, as the group published its final report, with seven recommendations aimed at&nbs
Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf appears to have ruled out a new approach to child witnesses that would prevent them from having to give evidence more than once, The Herald reports. The Scottish government is considering an approach inspired by the "Barnahus" (Children's House) model in Norway, where
Two new members have been appointed to fill vacant positions on the Scottish Sentencing Council. Susan Fallone has been appointed as a judicial member, replacing Gillian Thomson. Ms Fallone has been a Justice of the Peace in Edinburgh since 2013. She currently works as a civil litigation solici
Measures to help police and prosecutors to tackle domestic abuse will come into force on 1 April next year, ministers have announced. The Domestic Abuse Act 2018, passed by the Scottish Parliament last year, creates a new offence which explicitly covers psychological harm as well as physical harm, a
To celebrate Burns Night, we consider links between Scotland's national Bard and the Faculty of Advocates This year marks the tenth anniversary of a special publication of a Robert Burns book which was discovered in the collection of one of his greatest admirers – the advocate and author Sir W
Nearly £800,000 in compensation has yet to be collected from Scottish offenders on the foot of court orders since 2011, according to new figures. The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS), responding to a Freedom of Information request from The Herald, confirmed that nearly nine per cen
The average length of custodial sentences in Scotland is at its highest in the last ten years, increasing by 21 per cent since 2008/09, new figures reveal. The Criminal Proceedings in Scotland, 2017-18 bulletin shows the use of custodial sentences under three months has fallen over the last decade,