Search:

Immediate action will be taken to address systemic failures in relation to deaths in prison custody, Justice Secretary Angela Constance has pledged. The Scottish government said it accepts Sheriff Collins’ fatal accident inquiry finding that the deaths of Katie Allan and William Lindsay were p

The High Court of Justiciary has increased the length of an extended sentence imposed on a man who groomed a teenage girl into having sex with him and made indecent communications towards another person he believed to be a young girl, after the Crown appealed against the leniency of the original sen

Laura Paton has been appointed as the next Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC). Currently His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prosecution in Scotland, Ms Paton will take up her role as commissioner on 1 April 2025, for a five-year period.

Scottish Land & Estates, the rural business organisation, has urged a complete rethink of the Land Reform Bill, warning that its "sweeping powers and lack of proper consultation" or parliamentary scrutiny render the legislation deeply flawed, as highlighted in two newly released reports. The org

Iraqis have reacted with horror after the country's parliament passed a law allowing children as young as nine to marry. The law, passed on Tuesday, grants religious authorities control over family matters such as marriage, divorce, and child custody, overturning a ban on child marriage under 18 tha

Edinburgh-based solicitor and estate agent Ralph Sayer has promoted Robyn Donaldson to partner in the firm. At 31, she becomes one of the youngest to hold such a senior position in the sector in Scotland, making the major career move less than eight years after gaining her legal diploma from Edinbur

Harper Macleod has advised on the sale of Glasgow-based McDonach IT Consultancy Ltd to IT Resolution Group Ltd, a company led by the management team of McDonach IT Consultancy Ltd. The law firm transacted a vendor induced management buy-out of McDonach IT Consultancy Ltd, enabling founder Kenneth Mc

The Scottish Sentencing Council has published a report on a review of the operation of the Sentencing young people guideline during its first year in force.  The guideline, which was approved by the High Court in November 2021, has applied since 26 January 2022 to the sentencing of young people

A very important lesson for those embroiled in disputes – and for their lawyers, too – popped up last week in the postscript of Lord Cubie's judgment in Hafthorsdotir v Eyvindsson, writes Bobby Murray. In short (and at the risk of some slight oversimplification), a husband had litigated

Elephants are not people, the top court in the US state of Colorado has ruled. In a unanimous judgment, the Colorado Supreme Court conceded that the animals are "majestic" but said they are not entitled to the same legal protections as humans.

Dear Editor, I read with interest the article from the Scottish Law Agents Society regarding the survey conducted on solicitor regulation and, in particular, the views expressed of the role of the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission.

The procurator fiscal has lodged a first notice with the Sheriff Court to commence the court process for a joint fatal accident inquiry into the deaths of Alexander Drysdale and George Greenshields. Both Mr Drysdale, 65, and Mr Greenshields, 68, died in hospital after contracting Covid while in lega

A 16-year-old who was convicted of culpable homicide after he headbutted and punched an Elgin bus driver who later died from his injuries has lost an appeal against his sentence. NRL was detained for four years and four months, reduced from a headline sentence of six years and six months, after plea

Left: The lord justice general teddy stands resplendent in his ermine-lined robe with its characteristic pattern of hanging black-tipped tails. Right: Elegance incarnate: The robe of the lord justice-clerk is distinguished by holes in the white cloth, through which her red gown shows – the inn