Search: David J Black

A peer has predicted that the Chinese authorities will sack the British judges who sit on Hong Kong's highest court amid the withdrawal of a barrister who was prosecuting the region's leading pro-democracy activists. Lord Garnier QC, a former Conservative solicitor-general, told The Times that he th

The Law Society of Scotland is inviting nominations for honorary membership for outstanding service for the public good by a Scottish solicitor. Honorary membership has been awarded to 18 solicitors in its 72-year history. The most recent recipients, Alistair Cockburn, Sheriff Brian Kearney and Dame

Martyn Evans has been appointed chair of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) board. He will begin the role on February 1, replacing David Crichton who has been serving as interim chair since December 2019.

The Sheriff Appeal Court (Civil Division) has dismissed an appeal by a property owner in Carnoustie against an order requiring him to give access to his property for to the owner of a neighbouring house to park his car. Charles Davidson, one of two defenders along with Angela Milne&nb

A legal messenger known as the world’s most loyal employee, having worked at the same firm for 84 years, has passed away. John Burns was 98 and had said he would retire in the weeks before his death. He had continued delivering legal documents around the Court of Session for TC Young Wilson Te

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's appointment of 16 new peers runs contrary to his predecessors' promises to limit numbers in the House of Lords, Conservative peer Lord Fowler has said. Membership in the house now stands at 830, a move that the Lord Speaker said runs "smack against" the recommendations

A former Court of Appeal judge will lead an independent review of the Human Rights Act. Sir Peter Gross has been appointed by the UK government to determine whether the 1998 act, which domesticates the European Convention on Human Rights, is operating effectively.

There were 36 evidence led trials in the High Court in the latest quarter and no adjournments due to lack of court time, new figures show. The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service quarterly statistical bulletin contains figures on activity in all High, Sheriff, Justice of the Peace and criminal app

The Aberdeen Student Law Review has published its tenth anniversary volume. Reflecting on the first decade of the review, Lord Woolman writes in his foreword: "Each issue displays a breadth of interest, an intellectual curiosity and a commitment to good writing."

The UK government has drawn condemnation after refusing to order a public inquiry into the murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane, which campaigners say flies in the face of the rule of law. The government yesterday outlined its response to the UK Supreme Court's ruling in February 2019 that the s

The latest quarterly fines report has been published by the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service and shows that fines collection rates have held strong in spite of the effects of the coronavirus crisis. The new report, which covers the financial years 2017/18, 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21 Q1 as mea

Slavery’s legacy in the Highlands and Islands is to be examined this week in a programme on BBC Alba.

To mark Black History Month, SLN is dedicating its ‘Our Legal Heritage’ feature to Scotland’s black history. As a child he was fed from a trough along with the other enslaved children on the plantation and regularly whipped, but Frederick Douglass would grow to become one of the mo

Chris Holme looks at the life of Henry Dundas, a controversial figure who has come under scrutiny this year in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement. He’s the man I walk past every day but never get to see up close. That’s because he’s 140 feet up in St Andrew Square –

The freedom of health professionals to speak during the Covid-19 pandemic is the subject of a free webinar to be broadcast from the Signet Library in Edinburgh featuring a roster of top speakers.