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An Edinburgh sheriff conducting a fatal accident inquiry into the death of a lorry driver has concluded that his death was a result of inadequate risk assessment and training by his employer in relation to load stability and recommended that more be done to improve compliance with safety requirement

Human rights campaigners have rallied behind the UN's top expert on Palestine, Francesca Albanese, following calls for her resignation based on a misreported speech. Ms Albanese has served since May 2022 as the UN's special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occ

An accelerated review of legal aid reform will take place in Northern Ireland following a breakthrough in talks between justice minister Naomi Long and striking criminal barristers. The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) began a withdrawal of services from all legally-aided Crown Court cases at the star

The Employment Rights Act (ERA) is likely to increase employment costs, weaken permanent job creation, and could increase workplace conflict in Scotland, new research by CIPD claims. The CIPD’s Labour Market Outlook shows that three in 10 (30 per cent) employers in Scotland plan to hire fewer

A legal academic has urged Scotland’s sentencing body to apologise to rape victims over the time taken to produce new guidelines, describing the seven-year process as a “national disgrace”. Dr Graeme Brown, of the University of Aberdeen, said the development of Scotland’s fir

The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission has referred the case of WX to the High Court of Justiciary. In 2010, the applicant pled guilty to a charge of breach of the peace. The applicant received a fine of £300. The sentencing sheriff concluded that there was a "significant sexual aspect"

Governments must not squander the opportunity to turn the International Court of Justice’s 2025 advisory opinion on states’ obligations regarding climate change into robust climate action, Amnesty International has said. Informal consultations on the draft resolution circulated by Vanuat

The death of a lorry driver could have been avoided if a number of precautions had been taken, a fatal accident inquiry has found, James Murray, 54, died on 23 August 2022 when his lorry overturned near junction 1 of the M8, close to the Hermiston Gait roundabout in Edinburgh, after the load in his

The Scottish Sentencing Council has published a new report on public understanding and perceptions of sentencing in Scotland following a wide-ranging national survey. The survey, conducted by Ipsos Scotland on behalf of the council, asked residents in Scotland about their views on different aspects

A local authority is recruiting a team of professional sniffers to help identify businesses producing bad smells. Brendola, a small town of around 4,000 people in northern Italy, is putting together a team of six "odour evaluators" following complaints from local residents about bad smells, The Guar

A pre-trial appeal in a domestic abuse case based on a judge’s refusal of a plea of no jurisdiction owing to some of the alleged conduct taking place in England has been refused by the High Court of Justiciary after it held that the common law on cross-border jurisdiction allowed for such a ca

Mahbooba Faiz, an Afghan-born lawyer based in Ireland, uncovers the detail of the Taliban's new diktat on criminal procedure. After nearly four years of legislative opacity and rule by decree, on 4 January 2026, the Taliban issued a new legal document in the Pashto language titled the “Crimina

A couple who stockpiled lethal weapons, manufactured ammunition and discussed preparing for a “race war” have been jailed at Kingston Crown Court, alongside two associates who purchased firearms from them. Thomas McKenna, 60, and Tina Smith, 55, were convicted after trial of multiple fir

The sale and supply of wet wipes containing plastic in Scotland will be banned from 11 August 2027 under regulations published today. Wet wipes containing plastic are a common and persistent source of marine litter and can break down into microplastics over time, harming the natural environment.