David J Black recalls a bygone era in Demarco’s Edinburgh.
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A former employee of the Scottish government has had her claim of harassment and victimisation on account of her race based on deliberate underpayment and unfair treatment dismissed by the Employment Tribunal. Claimant J Adegun, who was ethnically black, sought to establish that the Scottish Ministe
SLN assistant editor Kapil Summan looks back at some of the biggest stories in Scots law this year. The past year has been one of reform and change in the Scottish legal profession. In January, the then Lord President, Lord Gill, announced the timetable for the commencement of provisions of the Cour
David Hossack extols the benefits of mediation following the recent publication of a report from Holyrood. I read with great interest the recently issued report of the Justice Committee of the Scottish Parliament entitled "I won't see you in court: alternative dispute resolution in Scotland". As a p
Former sheriff and member of Quis, Douglas J. Cusine, raises further questions the group has about the Salmond inquiry and the role of the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body. There is a saying, “The Devil finds work for idle hands to do.” The “Devil” in this case is
David Wilson considers a case that clarifies 'practical completion'. For the first time in recent years, the courts have considered the definition of practical completion in the case of Mears Limited v Costplan Services (South East) Limited, Plymouth (Notte Street) Limited, J.R. Pickstock Limit
A piece of land can be a ‘land-locked’ enclave, so as to have a right of way over a neighbour’s property on the basis of necessity, despite the enclave being on the coast and adjoining the foreshore and the sea. Such public rights as there may be over the foreshore and the sea do n
Products containing the mineral talc are set to be removed from UK shelves amid fears they may contain asbestos material following a rise in litigation in the United States, write David Short and Peter Littlefair. Putting profits over product safety has been the battleground for product liability ca
A Glasgow sheriff has ordered the operators of the SSE Hydro Arena to pay nearly £100,000 to an American religious charity after finding it had no defence for cancelling an event involving a controversial religious speaker. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, which arranged with Scottis
In 1884, a lamb skipped its way into Scottish legal history after it entered unfriendly territory. Winans v Macrae [1885] 22 SLR 692 is a leading case on the issue of trespass by animals and affirmed the requirement for actual material damage for a successful interdict claim.
The bland reference in many books to ‘lawyers’ may understate seriously the exact nature of the work done in practice. Individual histories of firms and individuals provide an insight as to the formation of firms, their longevity and the work of the solicitors and their staff. Several di
The UK Supreme Court has determined that HM Revenue and Customs has the power to refuse to accept a taxable person’s self-assessment claim and decide at a later date to pay a lower amount than was claimed after an appeal by a Scottish optician business. DCM Optical Holdings Ltd, which trades a
Michael G. J. Upton, advocate, FSA Scot., MCIArb dates the first attested use in our system of certain words, including some denominal verbs liable to excite the grammatical prescriptivist. The extent of what may be known (or at least read) about the present-day world merely by tapping on your keybo
A commercial judge in the High Court of England and Wales has resolved a preliminary issue in a pizza chain’s £260 million claim seeking payment from business interruption insurance following Covid closures in favour of its insurers. The PizzaExpress group, insured by Liberty Mutual Insu
James Haldane Tait died peacefully at home on 9th April, 2020, from causes unrelated to the coronavirus outbreak. Known to his friends as Haldane, he was a remarkable man who has left the world immensely enriched by his time upon it. He is remembered with love and affection by all of those whose liv
