Mitchell Skilling

A judge in the High Court of England and Wales has dismissed an application by a transgender man seeking a decree of nullity in respect of his purported marriage to a woman in 2009, when he did not have a valid Gender Recognition Certificate, so that he could lawfully marry her again to resolve an i

An appeal against sentence by a repeat offender who was jailed for life with a punishment part of 23 years for murdering his partner while on bail for a different offence has been refused by the High Court of Justiciary. Christoper McGowan, aged 28 at the time of sentencing, had 57 previous convicti

A Crown appeal against what it considered to be the unduly lenient sentencing of a sexual offender has resulted in the High Court of Justiciary concluding that it would have reached the same overall result as the trial judge. Respondent Alistair Fergusson was convicted of 16 sexual offences against

The Sheriff Appeal Court has ruled that a sheriff who awarded sole guardianship of a 24-year-old man with autism to his mother without a proof hearing should have ordered one before making a decision. Colin Boyle, the father of the adult “Andrew” appealed against the order granted in fav

The New York Court of Appeals has concluded in an appeal based on a dispute between two classes of shareholder in a wound-up Scottish fantasy sports company that the plaintiffs had sufficient cause for an action of breach of fiduciary duty under Scots law. Nigel Eccles and other appellants, includin

A couple that bought a property in Auchendinny only to find a substantial quantity of Japanese Knotweed on the grounds have been allowed to progress with an action raised against the sellers based on a breach of the terms of sale. John Busby and Marie Donnelly argued that Mark and Kim Blair were in

A man who hired illegal migrants to work in a chicken takeaway restaurant in Edinburgh has been disqualified from acting as a company director for six years after an application was made by the Business Secretary to the Outer House of the Court of Session. The respondent, Muhammad Azam, was the sole

A judge has determined that a petition for judicial review of plans to redesign an Inverness shopping street to reduce the amount of vehicle traffic passing through it was not raised incompetently or prematurely. The trustees of the Eastgate Unit Trust, which owned a shopping centre at the east end

A tenant ordered to pay over £11,000 in rent arrears from September 2021 until 2023 to his former landlord has lost an appeal against the First-tier Tribunal’s decision to make the award against him. He rented a property in Airdrie from Celtad Ltd from January 2020, and left the property

The Upper Tribunal for Scotland has determined that the First-tier Tribunal has jurisdiction in respect of an action challenging the refusal of a school placing request for a child with additional support needs currently being educated outside the local authority area in which he and his family were

A Crown appeal against a six-year sentence of a rapist who trapped a young woman inside his workplace in order to rape her has succeeded on the basis that the sentence was unduly lenient. Barzan Nawshowani was convicted of raping one complainer inside his workplace in August 2022, with a docket atta

An appeal by Glasgow City Council against a motorist’s successful challenge of penalty charge notice imposed on him for driving a non-compliant vehicle within the city’s Low Emission Zone has been refused after the Upper Tribunal found it was not validly served. Allan Hamilton was sent a

A lord ordinary has dismissed an action by a commercial tenant of premises in Cowdenbeath that sought to compel their landlord to repair footpaths at the front and back of their retail unit after finding that the paths were part of the leased property. B&M Retail Ltd argued that the footpaths we

The Republic of South Africa has won an appeal in the UK Supreme Court establishing that it has state immunity from a claim in rem by a salvage company seeking voluntary salvage for its recovery of silver intended to be minted into currency from a vessel sunk in World War 2. Argentum Exploration Ltd

Two elderly women convicted of cruel and unnatural treatment and assaults upon children while they worked at a care home from 1969 and 1981 have had their custodial sentences reduced to seven months’ imprisonment after an appeal in the High Court of Justiciary. Margaret Hughes, 77, and Eileen