Search: Scottish syndicate purchased land 1901 for £5000

The Scottish government's plans to introduce a presumption against prison sentences of 12 months or less would, in practice, apply to sentences of anywhere up to 18 months where a guilty plea is tendered early enough and would limit access to justice as declining summary business shrinks the pool of

The Scottish Liberal Democrats have today warned that “we still have no clarity around how people’s rights will be protected” as a series of letters between Police Scotland, the Crown Office and the Scottish Parliament’s Sub-Committee on Policing highlighted lingering concern

A new system of instructing second post-mortem examinations of homicide victims has been put forward by the Faculty of Advocates, in an attempt to ease the grief of bereaved families. Under the suggested scheme, a panel of forensic pathologists would be available to perform defence post-mortems with

Details have been confirmed for the first event in the Tumbling Lassie 2019 fundraising calendar, with a new charity partner lined up to benefit. In its previous three years of raising awareness of modern slavery and people trafficking, the Tumbling Lassie Committee – six members of the Facult

Dr Nick McKerrell questions whether it was in the public interest to reveal the name of a child convicted of rape and murder.  Open Justice seems to be a fundamental principle of our legal system. Walk into any court around the country and you can take a seat in the public gallery to witness al

Inflationary increases in civil court fees have been condemned by lawyers as being “inimical to access to justice” as they impose a “substantial burden” on litigants with average incomes and are based on the principle of full cost recovery, which has been discredited by the

Two-thirds (67 per cent) of the 6,736 hate crimes recorded in 2017-18 included a race aggravator, crime statistics published today show. Developing Information on Hate Crime Recorded by the Police in Scotland also shows that 16 per cent of hate crimes included a sexual orientation aggravat

A think tank has called for the legislation amending the census regime to include a better question on which languages are spoken in Scotland. Reform Scotland submitted written evidence to the Culture, Tourism, Europe and External Affairs Committee’s inquiry into the Census (Amendment) (S

Child witnesses could be entitled to have their evidence pre-recorded in the most serious domestic abuse cases, under Scotland’s proposed vulnerable witnesses legislation. The Vulnerable Witnesses (Scotland) Bill, currently being considered by the Scottish Parliament, creates a new rule that c

Charities working to reduce reoffending will share almost £3 million to fund specialist services including employment training, early intervention and support for families of prisoners. Criminal justice social work service provider Sacro and Families Outside, which supports children and famili

Greenock solicitors are to have their first female dean of the town’s faculty of procurators. Jill Carrick was appointed dean of the Faculty of Procurators in Greenock, the first woman to take up the post in the organisation’s 200-year history, at the faculty’s annual general meeti

Lord Reed has described some constitutional principles that have emerged from the case law on devolution. In a speech on devolution and the role of the courts delivered at Dover House in London, the Deputy President of the Supreme Court looked at the cases of Robinson v Secretary of State for Northe

Academics, advocates and solicitors to advise on approach to reviewing legal aid fees. Experts from across the legal profession have joined a Scottish government panel to advise on an evidence-based approach for a review of fee levels for legal aid services.

Today is International Women’s Day – a day for celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women, whilst also marking a call to action to accelerate gender equality. This year the campaign is #BalanceforBetter – recognising that everyone has a part to p

Natalie Wallace, solicitor in the corporate team at Harper Macleod, looks at the theme of IWD2019, #BetterforBalance, and what it means for the legal and corporate world. The theme for this year's International Women’s Day is #BalanceforBetter. Creating a more gender-balanced world is sur