Kapil Summan

The Lord Advocate James Wolffe QC's application to intervene in the prorogation case at the Court of Session today has been accepted. Mr Wolffe has lodged applications to intervene in two legal cases aimed at preventing the suspension of the UK Parliament ahead of the Brexit deadline.

A judge has questioned why the courts require facts to be "squeezed into a Moorov straitjacket" instead of recognising a more general principle admitting similar fact evidence where relevance is established. Lord Glennie made the obiter comments in a judgment allowing the appeal against conviction o

Scotland is considering the creation of a dedicated sexual offences court, a judge has said. Lord Matthews said in a speech at the Third International Advocacy Conference in Nottingham that a judge-led sexual offences review group is considering the measure.

A council's decision to close a fund supporting the provision of free advice in relation to housing, financial inclusion and social welfare law in Glasgow has been condemned by a leading lawyer.

Complainers in sex crime cases should be given independent legal representation to allay their "perception" that the adversarial trial system is "weighted in favour of the accused", according to new research. The proposal is among a number of recommendations made in a report published today by the S

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 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

Law is not universally enforceable in the way we believe it is in theory – but “does it always have to be that way?”, Edward Snowden has asked. The American whistleblower, whose revelations in 2013 exposed Britain and America’s mass spying programmes, was addressing the ORGCo

Almost a third of all applications ever made to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) were lodged by people convicted of sex crimes, a new report shows. The SCCRC is a public body established in 1999 that reviews alleged miscarriages of justice in relation to convictio

Lawyers gathered in Edinburgh yesterday to celebrate the 500th edition of one of Scotland's most important legal publications. The newly refurbished Old College was a fitting venue in which to take stock of the Scottish Legal Action Group's history and to look ahead to its future as a modern online

There is no basis for the belief that abolishing the ‘not proven’ verdict in Scots law will lead to more people being found guilty of rape and could in fact result in "rogue convictions", leading criminal lawyers have told Scottish Legal News. Responding to Gordon Jackson QC’s sugg

The application process for judicial office in Scotland has been severely criticised as too onerous, a "lottery" and an artificial paperwork exercise that may be no more effective than the 'tap on the shoulder' that allowed "useless people" to be appointed in the past. Last year the Judicial Appoint

The Roberton Review fails to appreciate the separation of powers, proposes a regime that will effectively cost the consumer more and is so lacking in credibility that it should "form no basis for any changes" to the regulation of legal services in Scotland, solicitors have said. The Scottish La

The Scottish government had no intention to reverse cuts to the legal aid budget made in 2011, contrary to claims made by the Edinburgh Bar Association (EBA) that these savings were meant to be temporary, Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf stated as he announced an impending consultation with the profes

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