The High Court of Justiciary has found that the conduct of a Scottish League Cup final attendee who was charged with a breach of the peace by shouting the word “hun” at a police officer was not aggravated by religious prejudice but refused to alter the sentence given as a result. David D
Search: Scottish syndicate purchased land 1901 for £5000
Almost all of Scotland's defence solicitors are prepared to boycott the Scottish government's proposed juryless trials pilot, meaning it will most likely not run. Appearing before MSPs on Holyrood's Justice Committee, Simon Brown, vice-president of the Scottish Solicitors Bar Association (SSBA), sai
A new show investigates how the Post Office's Horizon scandal ruined lives in Scotland. For more than a decade, Scottish prosecutors took dozens of former postmasters to court based on potentially flawed computer data. In Scotland's Post Office Scandal, reporter Mark Daly investigates how the Post O
Drugs minister Elena Whitham has resigned from the Scottish government for health reasons. Ms Whitham was appointed to the post in March last year, after previously serving as minster for community safety.
The Scottish Liberal Democrats have urged ministers to take action to cut deaths in custody after a new report found almost 250 deaths in just a single year. The Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice published a new report, Nothing to See Here? Deaths in Custody and FAIs in Scotland-2023, which foun
Plans to continue setting a minimum price per unit of alcohol and to increase it by 15p will go before the Scottish Parliament for approval. As part of a ‘sunset clause’ when minimum unit pricing (MUP) legislation was introduced in 2018, it will end on 30 April this year unless Parliamen
Scottish Secretary Alister Jack has called on the Scottish government for an update on proposals to split the role of the lord advocate. Mr Jack has asked First Minister Humza Yousaf to explain what is causing the delay on consulting on the separation of the role, as pledged in the SNP's 2021 manife
Deborah Anne Lovell has been appointed as a new part-time legal member of the Scottish Land Court. Ms Lovell has also been appointed by the Scottish ministers as a part-time legal member of the Lands Tribunal for Scotland.
Proposed Holyrood legislation aims to improve outcomes for children involved in the Scottish criminal justice system. However, there are concerns about the effect of the new law on freedom of expression and open justice, writes Baktosch Gillan. Safeguards to protect children and promote rehabil
The Trusts and Succession (Scotland) Bill was passed at the Scottish Parliament on 20 December 2023 and received Royal Assent on 30 January. Stewart Dunbar looks at two aspects of the Act that impact the individual who created (or plans to create) the trust, known as the truster. It is essential tha
Professor Kenneth Norrie responds to a piece published earlier this week in Scottish Legal News, which he characterises as "mendacious". Monday’s Scottish Legal News carried a piece with the shockingly misleading heading “Plans for new trans law…”.
Extra help for people struggling with council tax debt will be on offer in three local authority areas under a pilot scheme. The Scottish government is providing Citizens Advice Scotland with £200,000 funding to better understand the reasons why some people end up in council tax arrears and to
From the Supreme Court to Scotland's local authorities, immigration is a dominant, if underexamined, feature of the public law landscape. In this Scottish Public Law Group seminar, a panel of expert speakers will explore the Rwanda policy and its wider constitutional significance; implications of th
XL Bully dog owners in Scotland are being urged to prepare for new rules which are expected to come into force this Friday. New laws laid for consideration in the Scottish Parliament will make it illegal to sell, advertise, gift or exchange XL Bully dogs, or letting such dogs stray. XL Bully dog own
A lord ordinary has ruled that an action by Scottish Gas Networks Plc in which it sought £3 million from the insurers of a quarrying company whose operations forced the costly diversion of a gas pipeline was sufficiently relevant to proceed to probation. The pursuer’s action against QBE