Search: David J Black

Dr Morag Kerr, secretary-depute of Justice for Megrahi, replies to Ronnie Clancy KC's recent articles on Lockerbie and argues that despite the slur of 'conspiracy theorist' used by the UK and Scottish governments, the Crown Office, the SSCRC and the Americans, Mr Megrahi still suffered a miscarriage

Applicants for rights over land under the Electronic Communications Code should investigate who occupies the land before raising proceedings, otherwise they risk causing unnecessary expense by directing the proceedings against the wrong party, the Lands Tribunal for Scotland held on 20 November in N

When he describes his arrival at the Scottish bar as being “a bit convoluted”, Ian Forrester KC really isn’t kidding. Having studied history and English and then law at the University of Glasgow, Forrester began his career with Maclay Murray & Spens in the mid-1960s with the or

Benjamin Bestgen pours forth on law and wine. It is fair to say that the British enjoy wine. Not only is the UK the fifth largest wine consumer globally. It is also the home of internationally acclaimed wine education and industry organisations like the Wine and Spirits Education Trust and the Insti

Benjamin Bestgen looks at the law and cultural perceptions surrounding suicide. The recent case of Irish citizen Tori Towey’s arrest for being drunk and having attempted suicide in the United Arab Emirates made international headlines. Media reports suggest that she was suffering domestic viol

In a landmark decision, which adds to the growing global body of climate-based jurisprudence, the Supreme Court has held by a majority that before a developer is allowed to proceed with a project that extracts fossil fuels, it must carry out an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) that assesses the

The Lands Tribunal for Scotland has issued the first judgment on either side of the border about the requirements for the validity notices served under the new version of Electronic Communications Code in the Communications Act 2003. The new code took effect at the start of 2018. The case concerned

The first in her extended family to go to university, intellectual property specialist Lesley Larg was appointed as Dundee-based solicitors Thorntons' first female managing partner in 2021, taking over from Craig Nicol who held the post for 10 years, seven of those years as joint managing partn

The recently decided – and widely reported – case of Sean Hogg has had so many twists and turns that it is not altogether easy to unravel what happened or what (if any) implications it has for future prosecutions. This led – when emotions were clearly running high – to the ma

Sex Matters is intervening in the gender recognition certificate (GRC) case brought by For Women Scotland that is being heard by the Inner House of the Court of Session tomorrow. Its submission, which will be made public on Wednesday, will urge the court to consider the impact of the legal

Jimmy Black meets corporate lawyer Robert Pirrie WS, chief executive and in-house lawyer of the Society of Writers to the Signet. Deep in the cellars of the Signet Library, there are caverns with sturdy doors, guarding some of the Scottish legal profession’s most fascinating historical treasur

As Rishi Sunak arrives in Belfast for talks with political leaders on the Northern Ireland Protocol, Anurag Deb here examines the UK Supreme Court's latest Brexit ruling and what it means for the constitutional statutes doctrine. Anyone who is from Ireland, or who has witnessed a real (as opposed to

Dr Felicity Loughlin, lecturer in the history of modern Christianity at Edinburgh University, writes about Scotland’s last persecution for blasphemy as a criminal offence, and what this can tell us about changing attitudes towards religion and free speech in the Victorian age. In 1837, a

Solicitor Fiona McPhail writes about the case of Abdelwahab-Kaba Dafaalla v City of Edinburgh Council, which concerned the issue of repeat or subsequent homeless applications where a local authority has already considered an application and acted upon the outcome of that application. In Mr Dafaalla&