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A senior Scottish police officer has called for an overhaul of the UK's drugs regime. Steve Johnson, an assistant chief constable, said the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 was a relic “ripe for reform” as he backed the use of safe injecting rooms, The Times reports.

A human rights lawyer who had been jailed for abusing Air India cabin crew after she was refused alcohol is believed to have killed herself days after being released from prison. Barrister Simone Burns, 50, was sentenced to six months' imprisonment in April after racially abusing and spitting at ste

The Roberton Review into the Regulation of Legal Services in Scotland commissioned by the Scottish government was published 10 months ago. The Competition and Markets Authority and the Scottish government have now responded. This latest document identifies the drivers of reform as proportionality, c

The Scottish Council of Law Reporting (SCLR) has a new team at the top, and for the first time both senior positions are held by women. Jackie McRae has moved up to chair, and her place as vice-chair has been taken by Angela Grahame QC.

A man found guilty of rape and sexual assault who claimed that the two offences were too dissimilar for the doctrine of “mutual corroboration” to apply has had an appeal against his conviction rejected. The Appeal Court of the High Court of Justiciary ruled that the circumstanc

Her Majesty The Queen has approved the appointment of Lord Reed as the next president of the UK Supreme Court. Lord Reed will succeed Baroness Hale of Richmond as president, alongside three additional appointments as justices.

A round-up of human rights stories from around the world. UK: Priti Patel's record on human rights prompts 'extreme concern' | The Guardian

A sheriff principal has found entirely in favour of the Standards Commission for Scotland, the first ever substantive appeal against one of its decisions, in a case providing that when acting in a quasi-judicial capacity the enhanced protection afforded politicians to make political comment, under t

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) should extend its victim strategy to complainers of sexual crimes that are prosecuted in the sheriff solemn courts, a review has found.

A short-term prisoner who was refused early release under Home Detention Curfew (HDC) under the Prisoners and Criminal Proceedings (Scotland) Act 1993 has had his petition against the decision rejected. John Paton brought judicial review proceedings against the Scottish Government aft

Defence solicitor Gordon Ritchie charts the decline of Scotland's justice system and respect for the rights of the accused. As I approach the 30th anniversary of my admission as a solicitor, and contemplate a retirement into the great unknown of pipe and slippers, I considered the changes in law and

Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson Liam McArthur MSP has written to the Lord Advocate, James Wolffe QC  about the findings of the fatal accident inquiry (FAI) describing the brutal death of Allan Marshall, an inmate of HMP Edinburgh in 2015. Mr McArthur’s letter highlights con

A party to an arbitration which was seeking to challenge an arbitrator’s award on the basis of an alleged “legal error” has had an application for leave to appeal against the decision refused. A judge in the Court of Session refused the application after ruling that the t

Solicitor Aamer Anwar, who called on protestors at an anti-racism march to “demoralise” campaigners from an Israeli lobby group with Palestinian flags, will not be punished, The Times reports. Mr Anwar will face no disciplinary proceedings for accusing the Confederation of Friends of Isr

A University of Dundee academic has been awarded a European Commission professorship to further his research into how ecological and economic justice can be delivered. Professor Raphael Heffron received the Jean Monnet chair for 2019-2022 on the Just Transition to a Low-Carbon Economy, one of o