Legislation to help reduce the high prison population has been passed by the Scottish Parliament. The Prisoners (Early Release) (Scotland) Bill will change the release point for offenders serving sentences of less than four years from 50 per cent of their sentence to 40 per cent. There will be no ch
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The wholesale reform of the criminal justice sector required to tackle increasing financial pressures has been too slow, according to Holyrood's Criminal Justice Committee. The findings are part of the committee’s scrutiny ahead the Scottish government’s budget for 2025/26.
Legislation to allow for the early release of prisoners has been published. The Prisoners (Early Release) (Scotland) Bill proposes that most prisoners serving sentences of less than four years would be released after serving 40 per cent of their sentence, rather than 50 per cent as at present. This
These have been interesting times at Glasgow corporate law firm Macdonald Henderson. October 2024 alone saw the firm advise on 14 deals and last week it announced the acquisition of Ferguson Whyte Solicitors, gaining it a presence in the Glasgow’s West End as well as its Hope Street office in
The Scottish Sentencing Council has today published its 2024-2027 Business Plan, announcing significant new initiatives, including guidelines on sentencing people with mental health and related issues, and on assault offences. The plan marks a new phase of work for the council as it approaches its t
Private schools in Scotland should adapt to the new VAT regime rather than wait for the outcome of a legal challenge against the UK government's decision to end their VAT exemption, a lawyer has said. VAT at the standard rate of 20 per cent will be added to private school fees from 1 January 2025. T
Solicitor Morag McNeill has been appointed as chair of The Robertson Trust, the largest independent grant-making trust in Scotland. Ms McNeill will chair the board of trustees from the start of January 2025, steering the Trust's work as an independent funder whose mission is to prevent and reduce po
Court wait times could rise to more than three years for the most serious cases, Holyrood has been told. Malcolm Graham, chief executive of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS), told MSPs that not raising funding in 2025-26 would be the same as removing 10 courts dealing with serious cas
The WS Society has announced that Mandy Laurie WS (Burness Paull) is standing down as deputy keeper of the Signet at the end of this year, and current treasurer Jim Cormack KC WS (Pinsent Masons) will succeed her in office from 1 January 2025. A reshuffle of appointments sees current trustees Tony J
An amendment to the Housing (Scotland) Bill will set out how rent increases will be capped in areas where rent controls apply, subject to the approval of Holyrood. In response to stakeholder feedback, rent increases would be limited to the Consumer Price Index (a measure of inflation) plus one per c
Dr Gavin Sullivan, reader in international human rights law at Edinburgh Law School, has been awarded almost £600,000 by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) for his academic project. The UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship scheme seeks to develop the next wave of world-class research and innovation l
Ireland should decriminalise the possession of all illicit drugs for personal use and adopt a health-led approach to the use and misuse of substances, a committee of the Oireachtas, Ireland's parliament, has recommended. The joint committee on drugs use, which was established to examine and respond
Kennedys, which has offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh, has appointed Meg Catalano as the firm’s global managing partner. Ms Catalano is currently the regional managing partner for the US and a member of the firm’s five-strong executive group, which is responsible for setting and imp
Professor Gillian Black explains why the Scottish Law Commission is looking at reform of civil remedies for domestic abuse. With over 61,934 incidents of domestic abuse recorded by Police Scotland in the year 2022 to 2023 (of which 81 per cent involving a female victim and a male suspected perpetrat
